NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game

by Little Merger

A 30-year-old NEET is reincarnated into the body of an otaku that choked to death on instant noodles. As he comes to grips with his new life, he realizes that this world is subtly different from Earth. The denizens of this world are far better looking, and this new world also possesses futuristic technology as well as mysterious Yin Yang masters! After reincarnating, he realized th

5. 129

NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System #Chapter 129 - Its Just a Dream - Read NEET Receives a Dating Sim Game Leveling System Chapter 129 - Its Just a Dream Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Chapter 129: It's Just a Dream

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Apart from the fact that Shika's soul might view Seiji as an intruder, there was one greater risk that he had to face.

The "spell" that he was looking for.

There was the possibility of another spell being bound to the amnesia-causing spell located in Shika's soul in order to prevent its cancellation.

Even if his task was merely to find the spell, not dispel it, there was still some degree of risk involved.

An abundance of caution would be necessary.

…

After Shika woke up and ate breakfast, Seiji brought her to the room where the spell had been prepared.

After entering, the amnesiac girl scanned the entire room, her eyes wide with surprise.

She seemed to realize that something was about to happen, so she shrunk back in fright and stuck as closely to Seiji as possible.

"No need to be scared, Shika-chan," Seiji consoled her in the gentlest voice he could manage. "We're just… going to make you have a dream, and I'll accompany you."

"Brother…"

"It won't hurt. It might be a little uncomfortable, but I promise that no harm will come to you."

Seiji patted Shika on the head, his gaze gentle yet firm.

Shika blinked while facing him directly.

Even though she didn't know what was about to happen, seeing her "brother's" firm expression helped to reassure her.

"Have a seat," Natsuya, who was beside them, requested.

The president was currently wearing shrine maiden clothing.

That's right, it was also known as Shinto garb! A white wide-sleeved shirt on top, with a long red skirt on bottom… well, its technical name was hakama. She was also wearing white socks and red-colored shoes woven from dried grass, a classic pairing.

It was incredible for the black-haired scion with huge breasts to wear such an outfit!

When Seiji noticed her attire after entering the room, he was astonished to his core. If it wasn't for the fact that Shika was sticking by his side, he would likely have stood there, dazed, for a full dozen seconds.

The president's long straight black hair, white shirt, and red skirt were a perfect combination. Her breasts which always jutted out, regardless of her clothing, seemed even sexier than normal. The contrast between the holy impression that these clothes were originally supposed to give off and Natsuya's devilish figure gave her an almost irresistible allure.

Seiji felt an urge to take a picture of this scene with his cell phone!

He was even willing to bet his own virginity that a picture of the president wearing this outfit would be mega popular at school! And if he tried selling the picture on the internet, perhaps he'd be able to charge a high price and make huge profits…

'Cough cough, I'm getting too far off topic here.'

At any rate, she was beautiful and excellent.

It was a pity that he wasn't able to take a picture.

Seiji was certain that if he asked permission to take a picture, she would likely reject him and perhaps even glare at him.

That was why he could only admire this scene in secret by saving it in his system.

Heh heh, his dating sim system had the ability to save CGs! Even though he almost never used it, it still seemed to be good for situations like these!

Hmm… about his dating sim system.

Privately, Seiji was a little worried about it.

Just what exactly was his dating sim system? Seiji didn't understand.

Was this system connected to his body? Or his soul? He didn't know this either.

He was someone who had reincarnated into an entirely different world with possession of a mysterious system. Just what would his soul look like to Natsuya? Would she find something strange in it? Or would he be unable to do such a task for Shika's sake?

He was rather worried.

But just worrying about it wouldn't be of any use; he had to… at least try.

He sat down on one of the reclining chairs, his heart still filled with worries. He indicated for Shika to sit down on the other chair.

"Lay down and relax. Just treat it as resting normally," Natsuya informed them in a calm voice.

Then she slowly raised her right hand. She was holding an item. Many golden bells were attached its red handle, and five ribbons of different colors were tied to its base.

As she shook this item lightly, everyone heard the sonorous sound of bells chiming.

Seiji, who had just laid down, instantly felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Ding ling ling… Ding ling ling…*

Natsuya shook the bells rhythmically as she walked in a circle around the two chairs.

"The long night, what will you hear… Spirits and ghosts, what will you confide…"

Her calm voice began chanting some words that Seiji couldn't make heads or tails of. He assumed it was part of her spell.

As he relaxed and laid there on the chair, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier as he listened to her incantation and the bells ringing.

He was holding on to Shika's tiny hand. The two of them exchanged glances with each other.

"Brother… I'm so sleepy…"

"It's fine, Shika-chan… It's just a dream," Seiji comforted her gently and smiled. "Didn't you want me to… sleep with you last night… Does this… count…?"

"Brother…"

An indescribable light shone in Shika's eyes as her eyelids drooped.

Seiji was filled with numerous complex feelings as he focused on her expression.

Would they succeed? If they successfully discovered and eliminated the memory loss-inducing spell and helped her to recover her memories… would she remember what she did during her amnesiac period?

If she ended up forgetting…

Seiji would be… rather sad…

As Seiji gazed at Shika's face, he felt his senses of sight and hearing gradually fade, before he finally shut his eyes as well.

…

"Wake up, Haruta-kun."

Seiji slowly opened his eyes as he heard someone call to him.

He discovered that he was in an unfamiliar room.

The room was rather small. There was a bed, a desk, a chair, a bookshelf, and a cabinet… and all the furniture seemed rather small as well.

There was a little girl sleeping on the bed. The dolls, building blocks, and stuffed plushies were either scattered about or organized neatly, indicating that this was a child's room.

Seiji peered at the little girl closely.

"Shika-chan…"

That's right. Although this girl was much younger than the one he knew, this was doubtlessly Shika Kagura.

"Where am I?" Seiji muttered to himself.

"You're in her… Shika Kagura's soul," Natsuya's calm voice sounded in his ears.

"President? Where are you?"

Seiji glanced around at his surroundings.

"I'm still in reality, taking care of you guys," Natsuya responded. "Just as I informed you last night, I can only hear you and respond in turn."

"I won't be aware of anything you see or meet there. I can only learn about it if you tell me. If you need me to answer any questions, or do something, you'll have to say it clearly."

Seiji thought back to their conversation last night and nodded. She had indeed told him this.

"My brain doesn't feel like it's working too well… my thoughts feel rather sluggish."

"That's because you're still not used to being in soul form. It'll get better once you get used to it."

Getting accustomed to it… Seiji rubbed his temples.

That's when he realized that he wanted to take a look at his current self!

Just what type of appearance would he take on in such a situation…

Seiji looked around the room and instantly discovered a mirror.

When he took a look, the person reflected in the mirror was Seiji Haruta's handsome face.

'This means that… even my soul has completely merged with the original Seiji Haruta's?' He rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Well, it was all fine as long as there was nothing wrong with his soul.

The other thing that Seiji really wanted to check was… his system.

When he willed it, its familiar menu and options floated up in front of him.

It appeared!

It actually appeared!?

'I can even use my system in such a state!?' Seiji widened his eyes in surprise.

He attempted to use its functions. It seemed the same as normal. Every option was present, including his save and load ability!

What did this mean?

'Does this mean that… the dating sim system is intricately connected to my soul?'

Various thoughts flashed through Seiji's mind.

No matter what, he felt a great sense of relief that he was able to access his system even in his soul form.

Well, that concluded his self-inspection.

It was time to do what he came to do.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 130: I Don't Want Brother to Go!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"President, I'm currently in some sort of bedroom. Shika Kagura… a much younger version of her is sleeping on the bed right now."

He put down the mirror and asked for instructions. "What should I do now? Should I wake her up?"

Natsuya didn't reply to this.

"President?"

"I was thinking about what to do," she finally responded. "It's possible to wake her up right now, but I recommend looking around first. Are you able to leave the room?"

Seiji took another look at his surroundings.

"There's no door in this room… not even a window."

"Then… go ahead and wake her up. But prepare yourself first," Natsuya advised in a serious tone of voice.

'Prepare for what?' Seiji wondered.

Without warning, the young version of Shika on the bed muttered something and stirred.

Seiji looked at her.

The young Shika slowly opened her eyes.

When this happened, all the toys in the room suddenly began hovering in midair!

Seiji felt like he was being propelled upwards as well, and he couldn't help but look at the ceiling. He noticed that the ceiling… magically seemed to be far away from him when it was so low a few moments earlier!

He had barely registered this when his perspective turned upside-down!

He began "falling" towards the ceiling!

"Whoa!!" He couldn't control himself and let out a shout of surprise.

He imagined that this was what a first-time bungee jumper would feel!

Seiji's mind was going blank!

He didn't know what was going on. Just as he calmed down slightly and prepared to take action, he suddenly fell in a different direction again!

The room—or perhaps it was more apt to describe it as a space in the shape of a room—had now changed. Multiple layers of the room overlapped in his vision.

Seiji felt like he was trapped inside a kaleidoscope! 'This completely breaks every law of physics.'

Countless flying stuffed plushies, building blocks, dolls, and so on were strewn everywhere, just like the colorful contents of a kaleidoscope.

They grew larger or smaller, distorted, changed colors, or transformed back into their original states in a maddening cycle!

Seiji crashed into a teddy bear. The rebound sent him hurtling into a castle constructed of wooden blocks, which were sent flying everywhere after the collision. He then grabbed onto the hem of a doll's skirt, but it suddenly turned minuscule, making him unable to hold onto it anymore. He ended up falling into a giant whale puppet's mouth and being ejected from the blowhole on its back, whereupon he continued crashing left and right into many other strange, distorted objects.

But, unexpectedly, it didn't hurt at all.

Seiji was unsure of speed which he was falling at, but if he calculated it according to real-world physics, he guessed that he would have been seriously injured from the impacts long ago.

'Welp, so much for Newton's laws of gravity!'

At first, Seiji had been confused by the situation. Now, he had calmed down enough to assess the situation, even while flying through midair.

After an indeterminate length of time passed in this chaotic kaleidoscope, Seiji finally crash-landed onto the floor together with a large number of toys.

Seiji slowly regained his feet and used his arms to shield his head from the subsequent downpour of toys.

After he finished catching the final teddy bear, the room returned to its original state… or was it slightly larger than before? He had no way to compare or know.

Shika-chan finally rose from her bed and opened her eyes.

"Brother~" she called out happily upon seeing Seiji.

Then she hurriedly ran towards him and jumped into his arms with her arms outstretched.

"Good morning, Brother!"

After rubbing her face against him several times, she raised her face to reveal an expression that was just too cute to withstand!

Seiji felt as if he could hear his sense of reason becoming twisted.

She was just too cute!

He repeatedly tried to recite as many numbers of pi as he possibly could and somehow managed to maintain his sanity.

"Good morning, Shika-chan," Seiji smiled and greeted her normally, putting his earlier mysterious experience behind him.

…

This was the inside of Shika Kagura's soul.

The younger version of Shika… Shika-chan was the manifestation of her soul.

That was to say Shika-chan had the ability to affect the entire area inside here. Her knowledge, emotions, and thoughts had the ability to change the surrounding environment.

But she couldn't control it.

Humans were unable to control every part of their bodies, and their souls functioned in the same way.

Although Shika-chan was powerful in this realm, she couldn't control everything.

Thanks to Seiji's personal experience and Natsuya's explanation beforehand, he was now able to understand all this.

Currently, he was accompanying Shika-chan in her room… According to her current knowledge, this was the living room of her "home." They sat together on a couch and watched some TV.

The TV was only playing just a few scenes from a really old anime repeatedly instead of broadcasting some normal episodes.

Shika-chan appeared to be completely engrossed by this. She didn't feel that anything was wrong.

It was just like a dream.

Well, this was indeed a dream.

A beautiful, eternal dream about her "family" and her "brother."

"Have you finished inspecting the entire room?" Natsuya's voice asked.

"Yep, I've checked everywhere, and nothing seems particularly abnormal," Seiji replied.

"In that case… the enemy's spell isn't located in this room. Or, more accurately, it's not located in this soul layer," Natsuya muttered.

"Yeah…" Seiji observed the window that had now appeared in the room.

This window didn't seem like it could be opened. Everything outside was pitch dark.

However, strange white shadows kept streaking past the window. Occasionally, blood-red eyeballs could also be seen staring at the inhabitants.

"If it's not inside, it can only be outside… but it doesn't look very pleasant out there."

"Shika-chan is only capable of maintaining this room, the setting of the 'house' in her soul." Natsuya sighed before continuing, "According to Shika-chan's knowledge, the area outside her 'house' is dangerous and unfamiliar. That's why it looks foreboding and dark."

After a period of silence.

"What should I do?" Seiji asked for Natsuya's advice.

"You have two choices," Natsuya said, pausing for a second. "Your first choice is to venture outside Shika's house by yourself. You would have to protect yourself by using your personal spiritual power combined with my support in order for you perform your investigation."

"Your second choice is to take Shika-chan with you, so she can assist you. But…"

"She might end up getting hurt by the enemy's spell, right?"

"That's right; it'll be risky for her."

There was another momentary silence.

Seiji knew that he needed to make a choice.

The innocent little girl was still sitting there, watching TV. She kept singing together with the characters in the show, and sometimes she even stood up to dance along with them.

Take this girl out of her warm home to face unknown dangers?

No…

Seiji instantly made his decision.

"Shika-chan."

She turned around and blinked innocently. "Hmm? What is it, Brother?"

Seiji smiled gently and patted her on the head.

"I… have something to do outside. Can you watch TV by yourself for a while?"

Shika-chan squinted happily upon being patted on the head, but after hearing her brother's words, her eyes her shot back open.

"Outside?"

"Yeah… I have to go outside for a little bit."

"…Don't go."

Shika-chan had an unwilling expression.

Her brows were furrowed, her mouth was pouting, and her eyes showed signs of sadness.

"I don't want Brother to go outside…"

Seiji felt a twinge of pain in his chest at this sight.

But it was necessary for him to do this.

"I have something important to do. There's no helping it, but I'll come back as soon as I can."

"No!" Her voice rose an octave.

The little girl ran to Seiji and hugged him tightly.

"I don't want Brother to go outside! I… won't allow Brother to go!"

She was almost screaming now, and she whimpered softly midway.

"Shika-chan…" Seiji was moved.

"The last time Brother went out… you were gone for so long… so long…"

Tears started streaming out of her eyes.

"I waited for so long… so long… by myself… I was so lonely… so scared…"

She was hugging him tightly, clinging onto him with all her might.

"Finally… Brother returned… I was so happy… I wanted to be together forever, for eternity…"

Tears kept dripping down her face.

"Don't go out! Brother… I'll be a good girl! I'll listen to everything Brother says! As long as Brother doesn't leave again… as long as Brother doesn't leave me alone…"

"Wahh…"

Her miserable sobs echoed off the walls.

The warm house was filled with sadness.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 131: Going Outside

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The room instantly turned dark.

All the doors and windows disappeared, nothing but static appeared on the television, and an icy chill filled the dimension.

Many tiny hands reached out from the sofa and grasped every part of Seiji's body.

Two snake-like chains also slid out and slowly began to wrap around his ankles. It was evident that their purpose was to restrain him.

'This suddenly turned into a horror film!' Seiji mentally sighed to himself.

Shika-chan was still crying in front of him. She paid no attention to the changes in the environment and acted like this was natural.

His instincts warned him that if those two chains which were slowly inching around his legs managed to tie him up completely, he would be in grave danger. Despite this, Seiji remained calm!

"Shika-chan…"

He used his left hand, the only moveable part of his body remaining, to pat her head once more. Seiji's mind went into overdrive as he attempted to think of a method to extricate himself from this precarious situation.

He had made a mistake.

He didn't want Shika-chan to take any risks, but he ignored her feelings.

After her "brother" left, she waited here by herself for such a long time… Loneliness, worry, and fear—all dark emotions—laid dormant deep within her heart.

He wanted to leave her alone and go out by himself. This stimulated her deepest fears and caused such a situation.

In that case, how should he fix things?

The answer was obvious.

"Sorry… I was wrong," Seiji apologized sincerely. "I shouldn't have tried to leave you alone again and go outside by myself."

He spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.

Her crying… died down.

The dark space seemed to brighten ever so slightly.

"I didn't consider Shika-chan's feelings. It was my mistake. Please forgive me," he requested sincerely while patting her head gently.

Shika-chan's crying stopped.

She wiped her nose and raised her head, looking up at Seiji.

Her pale face was tear-streaked, and her mouth was still pouting. She looked pitiable.

Seiji inwardly smiled. 'She really is too cute… even her crying face seems so soft and cute!'

The numerous hands which had been reaching out beneath the sofa retracted themselves and disappeared.

The chains wrapped around Seiji's ankles also stopped moving and disappeared into the floor.

The room lit up again.

Seiji took Shika-chan into his arms and hugged her.

"Do you forgive me, Shika-chan?"

She nodded as the expression on her face became less tense.

"Thank you. Shika-chan really is such a good girl," Seiji said truthfully.

Shika-chan slowly began smiling again.

"Brother…" She was feeling warmth and comfort from being hugged by her favorite relative.

"I won't leave Shika-chan behind anymore, but I really have something important I need to take care of outside. That's why… Shika-chan, come together with me."

His gentle voice was also resolute.

If it was risky… then all he had to do was protect her!

Leaving her by herself wasn't truly protecting her.

Taking her together with him and, if there was danger, using all his effort to ensure her safety was the correct way to protect her!

"Okay… I want to be together with Brother," Shika-chan answered delightedly.

As long as she could be together with her brother, she was willing to go anywhere.

…

Seiji took Shika-chan outside with him.

It was lighter than Seiji expected outside. It wasn't dark to the extent of being unable to see more than one meter.

This was due to taking Shika-chan together with him.

Although the sky turned much lighter, the environment was still treacherous.

Snow.

Piles and piles of snow were falling from the sky.

Seiji was now wearing a thick winter jacket. He also made Shika-chan wear the thickest clothes they could find, including gloves and a hat.

He still felt cold, however.

"Shika-chan, are you cold?"

"A little… I'm fine."

Seiji felt a twinge of pain in his heart upon seeing the girl trying to endure the chill.

"President, what should I do in this situation?" He briefed Natsuya on the situation and requested her assistance.

"Wait a moment, I'll help you out."

After a minute.

"Alright, I've cast a spell on your body. If you… try your best to imagine what you want, you should be able to create it."

Imagination… Seiji thought in detail about what he wanted.

'I want a car! One that will run even in heavy snow, with excellent heating. I want a high-class SUV that's as comfortable to sit in as my own home…"

Something suddenly flashed into existence before him with a golden glow.

This golden glow seemed just like the flow of water. It swiftly formed into the shape of a car and began materializing. After its color changed, it finally solidified into existence!

A silver-white SUV magically appeared in front of him.

"Amazing!" Seiji couldn't help but praise it.

The car didn't have any brand markings… he forgot to imagine one, as all he did was think about the outer appearance and inner functions of the car he wanted, and this was what he got.

It seemed fine on the surface, but what about the inside?

Seiji opened the car door.

He saw that inside… didn't seem bad at all.

Although there were some details which were obviously missing, everything necessary was present.

Shika-chan merely blinked upon seeing a car materialize in front of her. She didn't seem to think it was strange, nor did she ask any questions.

Seiji helped Shika-chan sit down on the passenger seat and put on her seat belt. He sat down on the driver's side, put on his own seat belt, turned on the car, its heating system, and the radio.

The opening theme song of "Honey Candy Girl" started playing, while the warm air which blasted from the heating system instantly dispelled all coldness.

Excellent!

Seiji smiled. 'This was just what I wanted.'

"President, this is really nice!"

"It's fine as long as it's helpful… by the way, what did you make!?"

"An SUV for traipsing in the snow!" Seiji replied.

Natsuya, who was still in the real world, was astonished upon hearing this.

He created a car?

In such a short amount of time!?

According to her knowledge, the "power" of this creation spell depended on both the caster's spell power as well as the user's spiritual power and imagination.

She had some confidence in her own spell, but this was the first time she'd actually used it, so its power should only be at a normal level.

"Creating" a car wasn't impossible.

But it wasn't easy to imagine such a large and complex object! Creating something so complex should have taken a relatively long amount of time.

But Seiji Haruta did it in the span of a mere thirty… no, ten seconds!

Natsuya was quite clear that her own spell's power wasn't at the level where it could support an ordinary person's spiritual power to this extent. In that case, Seiji himself must possess an incredibly high spiritual power level or imagination!

And it wasn't merely above average.

Natsuya didn't know how she should calculate it, but she knew Seiji's spiritual power was definitely many times higher than average! It was multiplication, not addition!

Having high spiritual power could be due to the Haruta family's bloodline, or some other reasons.

As for high imagination… was it because he was an otaku? No, it might have some influence, but saying it was all because of his otaku hobbies seemed ridiculous.

The reasons as to why Seiji Haruta possessed such abnormally high spiritual power were unclear. And this type of spiritual power meant…

Various thoughts flashed through Natsuya's mind.

But she quickly regained her senses.

First, she needed to do what they intended to in the first place.

"President."

The boy who was seated in front of her in real life mentally spoke to her again.

"I'm currently driving the car to a 'snow mountain…' I feel like there's definitely something there."

That's because it was too obvious.

The snow flying everywhere was pure white. There was only one place where it was pitch-black instead.

That location was the top of the "snow mountain" that Shika-chan had talked about before.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 132: Nothing Can Stop Me!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The snow and wind were quite fierce.

Although it couldn't be called a blizzard, it seemed pretty close to one.

Even so, Seiji and Shika-chan didn't feel a hint of coldness. Instead, they were relaxed enough to sing the "Honey Candy Girl" anime theme song together.

Warm air filled the interior of the car. There was almost no shaking at all as the car drove over the rough terrain. The seats were perfectly soft, and with plenty of snacks and drinks stocked inside as well, the journey was ridiculously comfortable.

This almost seemed like a joyous family trip…

Seiji was pleased at himself for thinking of creating a car. Of course, he was most grateful to the president!

And so, the car arrived at the snowy mountain.

Real-life cars would be unable to climb mountains.

But this wasn't real life. Seiji had realized this many times over by now, so when the road in front of him became too steep to drive on, he simply had his car transform.

Seiji exerted his imagination. 'Stand up, mecha!'

After a flash of golden light, the silver-white SUV turned into a gigantic robot!

Seiji couldn't help but feel excited when he saw the SUV's transformation. "What the hell!? This actually worked!"

He had only wanted to try it out, but he didn't expect that it would work on the first try.

He witnessed all the changes through the car window, but the car's interior didn't change one bit.

Everything was completely breaking all the laws of physics… Newton and Einstein would definitely toss and turn in their graves!

While he was controlling the robot and climbing the mountain, Seiji felt that using a normal steering wheel seemed too low-tech for such a robot.

'Let's change it!'

With a golden flash, all the controls on the dashboard turned into a high-tech system which resembled something from a science-fiction anime.

Seiji sat in the middle of it all while pulling on a lever which was quite easy to manipulate. He felt the sudden urge to shout "I am Gundam!"

Being able to drive a huge robot is the dream of a real man! It's okay for men as well, not just boys!

At least, that's what Seiji believed.

He never expected that his childhood science-fiction anime fantasies could materialize like this. He couldn't help but feel incredibly excited.

But he shouldn't forget this trip's goal.

The sky gradually turned darker as the robot continued ascending the mountain.

Seiji felt an ominous premonition; something was about to happen.

"Shika-chan, are you tired?" Seiji noticed that she seemed to be drowsy.

"Yes, meow…"

"Have a little nap. If you sleep for a while, everything will be over," he whispered gently as he imagined something again.

After another golden flash, Shika-chan's car seat turned into a soft bed to sleep in. It even included warm blankets and a soundproof barrier.

"Okay… Good night, Brother~"

"Good night, Shika-chan."

That took care of things.

When Shika-chan fell asleep, the sky outside darkened at an even faster pace. Abnormal white-clad figures also started appearing.

But Seiji felt that he'd be able to take care of everything by himself, even without Shika-chan's assistance… For some reason he was brimming with confidence.

That was because creating anything he could imagine in this space seemed too powerful an ability!

'President Yoruhana, this is such an amazing spell!'

He pressed onwards.

It was now completely pitch-black. Even more abnormal white-clad figures appeared and began to surround his mecha. They seemed like they were about to attack.

'But so what?' Seiji curled his lips into a smile.

He imagined a huge gun appearing in his robot's right hand.

He pointed the gun at the sky and opened fire!

A white light burst out from the gun's mouth, etching a white trail in the sky before exploding at the apex of its arc!

It was a flashbang which was on the level of an artificial sun in brightness!

The blinding light instantly dispelled the darkness and destroyed all those abnormal-seeming figures in white.

He shot out a second and a third flashbang…

After two more flashbangs, the sky's color seemed to turn back to normal… No, it was even brighter than it should have been!

"Nothing can stop me!" Seiji said something rather immature out loud.

He paced forwards in his giant robot, breaking into a sprint and jumping over any obstacles as he traveled towards the only patch of darkness that hadn't dissipated.

He finally saw… a huge black wall!

This endless dark wall reached all the way from the mountaintop to the limits of the skies… This was the true identity of the darkness.

"President, I've discovered it."

Seiji described what he had found to her.

"Wait for a little while. I need to confirm things on my end," Natsuya replied.

After that was nothing but silence. It was evident that she was searching for information.

Seiji waited patiently.

However, a blood-red mass appeared in his field of vision. It seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.

"They're… demons!?'

As they approached, Seiji was able to make them out more clearly.

He didn't know what they were exactly, but they had red bodies with blueish-purple limbs and ferocious expressions on their faces. They had sharp fangs and horns as well as bat-like wings on their backs. They were flying towards Seiji rapidly with guns in their hands!

There were… seemingly thousands of them!!

"Many strange creatures are heading this way, President!" Seiji shouted as his brain worked at top speed.

With two golden flashes, a pair of gigantic Gatling guns materialized in his huge robot's hands. Several anti-air missile turrets also appeared nearby, their cannons aimed in the unwelcome visitors' direction.

It's firework time!

Both Gatling guns and all the anti-air turrets opened fire simultaneously!

Together with the thunderous sound of gunfire, a dazzling amount of bullets filled Seiji's vision as they spread out towards the countless enemy monsters.

And… they were effective!

The red flying creatures exploded into clouds of blood mist as they were struck by the high-caliber bullets and cannon shots.

As long as it worked, nothing mattered!

Seiji's blood began to boil.

"Explode! Be demolished, you scum!"

Another golden flash appeared on the robot's black as silvery-white wings materialized. With a blast of golden flames, its sharp wings spread out and… took flight!

Seiji piloted the mecha into the air, and its two Gatling guns, equipped with an infinite amount of ammunition, endlessly sprayed death at the monsters, turning them all into blood mist.

As the monsters flew in his direction, Seiji hurriedly dodged them by performing an aerial maneuver and flying above his own cannon formation.

The torrential gunfire thinned out the ranks of the demons.

"Haruta-kun, what's the situation!?" Natsuya's voice finally sounded in his mind.

"Not bad! Although I thought it was bad at first, it turns out I can deal with things!"

Seiji was having a lot of fun right now. This felt more exciting than even a VR shooting game!

"Oh… that's fine then." Natsuya's voice paused. "I did a little research, and it turns out… that what you're facing currently isn't a spell to cause amnesia. It's a defense spell instead!"

"Then what should I do?" Seiji shot several monsters that got too close to his robot, causing them to explode into blood mist.

"I can wake the two of you up, then try my best to eliminate the spell. Or I can cast a spell on you and have you destroy it right now!"

"Which will be better for Shika-chan?"

"The second one."

"Let's go with that then!"

Seiji created 18 floating cannons which had the ability to shoot in every direction. Bullets literally covered the entire sky.

"I feel like I can do anything right now! Hahahaha—"

Natsuya was rendered speechless.

She glanced at Seiji's body, which was currently seated in a chair and sleeping. For him to speak so arrogantly and laugh… felt rather strange!

She really wanted to comment on the situation, but there was no time for that.

Natsuya instantly began casting another spell on Seiji.

"This spell will take some time, Haruta-kun…"

"I can hold on! Rather, I don't even want to stop! Wow! A large one is here! Wonderful!! Come battle!!!"

Seiji was now shouting words filled with battle fervor. He seemed like the incarnation of a war god on the battlefield.

'As long as you're having fun, Haruta-kun.'

Natsuya let out a helpless sigh as she continued casting her spell.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 133: The Strongest Technique in the Universe!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

A monster that was 100 meters tall… no, over 100 meters tall appeared in Seiji's field of vision. It was the same type as the other monsters, and it was wielding an enormous rifle which was pointed in his direction.

Seiji's cannon formation was eradicated by this colossal monster's footsteps.

The previous cannon fire, which annihilated the smaller demons with ease, left nothing but white scratches on this huge monster.

Seiji's robot seemed like nothing but a child in comparison to this monster's size. Even the Gatling guns and floating cannons weren't able to inflict any damage on it, even after Seiji tried concentrating his fire on one location.

'I need a stronger weapon!'

Seiji dodged the gunfire coming from the colossus while simultaneously dealing with the endless waves of smaller demons. He felt like he was in danger for the first time.

'Something stronger… bigger… Yes, let's go with that!'

He drew back from the enemies and stayed as far out of the colossus' range as he could. He used the floating cannons to deal with the smaller enemies which chased him and gave himself time to imagine.

Another golden glow enveloped Seiji's robot.

The golden light rapidly increased in size to ten meters, thirty meters, then several hundred meters… In just ten seconds, Seiji's robot transformed into an enormous monstrosity which was over several hundred meters tall. Finally, the light gradually dissipated as the new robot took its form.

It was a gigantic orange-red demon fox with nine long tails!

Seiji's current location in this robot was at the demon fox's chest.

Go! Nine-tailed demon fox from Naruto!!

With one sweep of its nine tails, the new robot instantly vaporized a huge amount of small demons.

When the colossus charged towards his new form, the demon fox batted away the enemy's oversized rifle with one swipe of its left claw, closed the distance with a single leap, and viciously swiped its right claw!

Boom!* The sound of the impact shook the heavens and earth.

This swipe left a deep bloody scar on the colossus' body!

Excellent, this attack was effective.

"Again!" Seiji continued controlling the nine-tailed demon fox robot.

The huge demon fox headbutted the colossus, causing it to stagger.

Seiji took advantage of this opportunity and followed up with a brutal combo of claw attacks—swipe swipe swipe swipe swipe!!

Using a combination attack after breaking through the enemy's defense was a common tactic in many video games.

Finish it with an ultimate ability!

The demon fox opened its mouth and spat out a black energy ball towards heavily injured colossus!

Rumble!!!* *Boom!!*

The energy ball crashed into the colossus' chest. The impact sent the huge body flying! Finally, the ball of energy exploded, and golden flames engulfed the colossus' entire body!!

"It's over," Seiji stated in a light tone, smiling like an immature middle schooler.

Several seconds later, the blaze disappeared.

There was a huge empty crater left in the ground… the colossus had completely disintegrated.

A perfect victory.

"Who else dares face me!?"

Seiji felt like he was turning into a bastard… whoops, a king!

The black wall responded to Seiji's coronation by…

One, two, four, eight…

A total of more than thirty colossi, each one identical to the previous colossus, charged ferociously at him!

Seiji was rendered speechless at the situation.

"President, is your spell still not ready!?"

He instantly decided to call for assistance.

This number of enemies was no joke! Even if he went through the effort to defeat this wave of enemies, who knew how many the next wave would contain!!?

While battling was fun, battling nonstop would be exhausting!

"It's done," Natsuya's voice sounded in his ears.

Simultaneously, Seiji discovered that he was now glowing.

A soft golden glow that seemed to contain great power was exuded from his entire body.

'Am I truly becoming light itself now?'

He felt his cheek twitching.

"Haruta-kun, imagine yourself attacking that giant wall… Use the all the force that you can possibly imagine!"

"Got it."

The actualization of light was about to defeat total darkness with a single blow!

Well, that's how it seemed to him.

Seiji closed his eyes and focused on his thoughts on visualization.

The giant demon fox stood up and reached its claws up to the sky.

Countless blueish-white balls of light appeared in the air and gathered at the demon fox's claws, forming a pulsating mass of energy.

The energy ball's expansion was extremely rapid; by the time the enemy colossi drew close, the energy mass had grown several hundred times larger than even the demon fox's current size.

"Hmph, be proud that you're allowed to die to this technique."

Seiji opened his eyes and continued acting like an immature middle-schooler.

Although he was acting immature, it really did describe his true feelings right now.

That's because this technique was one of the greatest legends of all time. In his previous life, he was also someone from that anime's generation and one of its greatest fans. He would give the #1 ranking to this technique, which was the strongest in the world… no, the greatest in the entire universe.

"KAMEHAMEHA!!!"

The gigantic demon-fox robot, driven by Seiji's will, forcefully chucked the blueish-white energy mass!

The energy mass crushed all the enemy colossi into a fine blood mist and continued forward towards the black wall without obstruction.

Seiji silently watched the energy mass collide into the huge wall and explode into a blinding white light!

The dark sky was bathed in radiance.

Everything was returned to its initial state.

Cough cough… the last part was a bit of an exaggeration.

At any rate, Seiji followed Natsuya's instructions and imagined the strongest attack he could think of to destroy the black wall, which was also the defense spell.

"I've succeeded, President."

"…That's good, then," Natsuya's voice replied. "Now… continue investigating, but remember to be cautious."

"Got it."

Seiji continued onwards.

After having the demon fox robot run towards where the black wall had been, he saw it.

A pure white… chain.

Countless white chains intertwined in a way which clearly violated the laws of physics. It seemed like some sort of spell formation.

A light blue diamond-shaped crystal hovered in the middle of the spell formation.

Seiji reported all this to Natsuya, who took a few minutes to research and confirm the details once more.

"This is the amnesia-inducing spell," she told Seiji after confirming it for herself. "The white chain is the limitation, and that crystal-like object contains the sealed memories."

So, they'd discovered the spell.

Seiji took a deep breath. "What next, then?

"Just like destroying the enemy's defense spell, I can do it on my end, or you can do it on your end," Natsuya replied.

"Allow me to continue then. That'll be the best for Shika-chan, right?"

"Yes, you… have excellent talent in this area. It should be quite a suitable task for you. Compared to me trying to cancel out the spell, it'll be much safer and easier for you to do it."

"Excellent talent?" Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah. I detected it when you created that car using your imagination." Natsuya paused before continuing, "Haruta-kun, your spiritual power—or perhaps imagination—is at a far higher level than average. This is why your battles in Shika's soul layers were rather easy… much easier than I anticipated."

"Oh…" Seiji rubbed his chin. "President, you mean to say that all my actions up to now like creating a car for convenience and battling against monsters summoned by the defense spell… None of this could have been accomplished by an average person, is that it?"

"That's right. You're a special case." Natsuya seemed convinced.

'Not only have you surpassed average people, even average Yin Yang Masters such as myself can't compare to you…'

After she cast her spell, Seiji took less than 30 seconds to perfectly destroy the enemy's defense spell. This indisputable fact caused the president to feel a gap between their abilities.

She didn't feel that she herself had the ability to accomplish the same task in the same conditions in so little time.

'Should I say that it was to be… expected of someone from the Haruta family?' Natsuya wondered as she sighed inwardly.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 134: Waking Up

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji was confident in his own imagination, but he didn't feel that it was far stronger than an average person's or anything like that.

In that case, it had to be his spiritual power that was outstanding.

Was it because his soul had combined with another person's? Was it because of this body's original specs? Or was it because… of his dating game system?

He didn't know, nor would he know no matter how much he thought about it, so he might as well forget about it.

At any rate, this was beneficial for him… His talent helped him reach this step.

After the president cast yet another spell on him, his body glowed with a golden-red hue.

It seemed almost as if he were a video game character whose fury value had risen to the maximum…

"Unlike dealing with a defense spell, you can't simply destroy the amnesia spell. Otherwise you may damage the memories that are being sealed," Natsuya informed him.

"What should I do then?"

"You must search for a weakness in the enemy spell… Using your own imagination once more, imagine that you can detect whatever weakness the enemy spell has, and that you can break through its weak point."

"Got it." Seiji nodded in understanding.

Seeing through the spell's weakness was simple.

He covered his eyes with his hand and imagined.

As long as it was something living, even gods could be killed by it…

Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, activate!

He uncovered his eyes.

Seiji's eyes glowed with a mysterious reddish-blue hue.

He was now able to view the "death" of all objects!

Endless dark lines of various sizes and thicknesses appeared on the complex spell formation created by the countless white chains intertwined together.

Seiji had the demon-fox robot lift its claw and sliced through one of the lines with ease.

Crash!*

Several dozen chains were destroyed.

He continued cutting along the lines which his transformed eyes allowed him to perceive, snapping the white chains which held the crystal.

Before long, all the chains had been untangled.

The memory crystal slowly descended as it was no longer being bound by the chains.

Seiji had the demon-fox robot grab the crystal with its right claw.

However, at this moment the crystal suddenly exploded, sending razor-sharp shards flying in all directions!

Seiji felt chilled to his bones.

His intuition told him that it would be disastrous if he was pierced by one of those shards!

He barely had time to even think due to the shards' terrifying speed. They instantly shot straight towards him!

The shards easily pierced through the demon fox's body and the robot's control room.

Seiji still hadn't had time to react yet. It seemed that he himself was about to be pierced.

[Bullet Time] activate!

Suddenly, time slowed down.

Even in this dimension the system's powers were protecting him!

Seiji instantly materialized a dagger with his imagination and guided it to cut through all the shards' death lines.

Swish swish swish!*

After several cuts, he successfully destroyed all the shards, and they dropped from midair before clattering onto the floor.

After confirming that he and Shika-chan were both unscathed, Seiji breathed out a sigh of relief.

That situation had posed no small amount of risk to him.

"What's the matter, Haruta-kun!?" Natsuya's voice was filled with anxiety.

"Nothing. President, that crystal just exploded and turned into many shards which shot towards me, but I managed to block them all," Seiji explained. "I felt like it would be dangerous if I was hit by any of those shards."

"Your intuition was absolutely correct," Natsuya replied.

Natsuya's expression in the real world was rather serious and pale at the moment.

"Just earlier… a murky gas suddenly came out of Shika Kagura's body… this gas is the aftereffect of a vicious soul spell's activation. Its target must have been whoever successfully eliminated the amnesia spell on Shika."

"Since you were the one who dispelled this spell in Shika's soul layer, you became its target… If you were hit by it, it's probable that… no, you definitely would have had your soul damaged to the point where it wouldn't recover!"

Seiji remained silent.

He wasn't too certain about how serious this really was, but he knew from her tone that it was no mere laughing matter.

But he wasn't scared to think about it, and his feelings remained calm… due to his dating sim system's existence.

Even if he didn't block it, and it pierced him, all he had to do was load and do the same scene over again.

That's why Seiji remained calm.

But things were different for the president… he could tell how worried she was about him.

"Thankfully you're alright, Haruta-kun." Natsuya's voice was sincere. "Otherwise… I… wouldn't know… what I should…"

Seiji felt touched as he imagined the president who had always acted so resolute showing off a weaker, gentler side.

He wanted to say something, but no words came to his mouth.

So, silence fell between them.

"Thankfully you're alright… Also, everything is thanks to you," Natsuya continued after a while. "If it was me who tried to dispel the enemy's amnesia spell, I… I'm certain that I would have been hit by that final attack."

"While I have some defensive spells placed on myself, I don't know whether or not they'd be able to block that spell… It's basically the equivalent of you having saved me yet again, Haruta-kun."

'I owe him more and more,' Natsuya inwardly thought to herself.

"So, thank you… I'm very grateful to you for everything."

Seiji smiled at hearing her words.

"It's my honor, Milady," he casually said a classic line.

Natsuya blinked in surprise at these words and smiled.

Discussing the spell could wait.

Seiji took a look at the demon fox's claw and saw that a girl was laying on top of it.

The girl was Shika Kagura… her teenager form from Seiji's first meeting with her!

And… she was naked.

Yep, that's right; she was completely naked!

White, soft, full-figured, plump…

Seiji's cheeks kept twitching as he hurriedly and gently closed the demon fox's claws to block that sight from his view.

What a beautiful scene…

Seiji coughed in an attempt to clear his mind. 'Stop thinking about it!'

Seiji shook his head and somehow managed to store the scene he just witnessed deep inside his mind somewhere.

"President, after that crystal exploded, what remained was…" Seiji explained the situation.

"This is the true memory's form or Shika Kagura's other personality… or, in other words, it's a manifestation of her soul," Natsuya told him. "Take her and the other one—Shika-chan—back to Shika's room."

"Although I think there shouldn't be any more hidden spells, it's still best to be cautious… Remain on your guard, Haruta-kun."

"Got it."

And so, Seiji began his return trip.

Everything went smoothly, with no demons or abnormalities of any kind appearing.

He returned to the room he woke up in: Shika's "house."

Seiji placed both blanket-wrapped girls onto the sofa in the living room.

Both Shikas were sleeping together peacefully as if they were sisters.

With Natsuya's assistance, Seiji woke both of them up at the same time.

"Mmm… Brother~"

"…Seigo Harano?"

When the young Shika and the adolescent Shika opened their eyes, they both spoke to him before pausing in surprise and exchanging glances with each other.

"You… are…"

"Big sister… you're…"

They stared at each other.

Shika Kagura… was staring at herself.

Both of them had almost identical expressions—expressions full of confusion, doubt, and finally… realization.

'So it was you.'

'You were here.'

'You… are me.'

'I'm here.'

'I'm home.'

'I've… returned.'

'Welcome back.'

The young Shika reached out her tiny hands.

The teenaged Shika also extended her palms.

When their hands touched each other, a white light flashed between them.

Seiji, who had been watching them silently, was blinded by this and couldn't help but cover his eyes.

The light was too bright for him to see anything. He was being bathed in this bright light.

He felt as if he heard something in this light; something touching and gentle.

"Thank you, Brother…"

Shika-chan appeared before him and smiled; it was a younger version of adolescent Shika's innocent and pure smile.

…

Seiji opened his eyes.

He discovered that he was resting on the chair in the spellcasting room.

He slowly stood up and looked at Natsuya who was beside him.

"I'm… awake."

After he spoke, he realized that his voice was a little hoarse.

For some reason, his heart… was filled with an indescribable feeling of sorrow.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 135: Hurt

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"What's the matter, Haruta-kun?" asked Natsuya concernedly when she saw Seiji looking somewhat sad.

Seiji let out an awkward cough as he averted his gaze. "It's nothing, really."

Shika Kagura had yet to wake up.

"All the spells on her have been dispelled, and there's nothing wrong with her condition. She should wake up shortly," Natsuya explained.

Seiji nodded.

After that, he carefully returned Shika back to her room in Natsuya's residence.

Having placed her on the bed and covering her with a blanket, Seiji sat down on her bedside and observed her face.

Just earlier… what he had just heard was probably Shika-chan's gratitude… as well as her farewell…

Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Seiji still felt a twinge of sadness when he recalled the scene.

This was despite him knowing the young Shika-chan for barely a day.

That innocent girl who wanted to be spoiled by him and addressed him as "brother" so cutely left him with a deep impression.

This was a precious memory to him.

Seiji would never forget it.

However, as for Shika Kagura…

Shika-chan wasn't Shika's main personality. It was her hidden personality. Shika herself might not remember everything that Shika-chan had experienced.

Even if Shika retained her memory after she woke up, it was likely that her recollection of the previous two days would be hazy, just like childhood memories that people could only vaguely recall.

Shika-chan was Shika Kagura.

But Shika Kagura… wasn't Shika-chan.

Seiji's sadness welled up again as he realized this.

'Ahh, idiot. I've actually… become so lonely.'

Seiji covered his face.

He was being too unseemly.

He didn't have the right to say how spoiled Shika-chan liked to act…

"Mmm…"

He heard a sound from the bed.

Seiji uncovered his face and looked in the girl's direction.

He saw the black-haired girl furrowing her brows slightly as her eyelids slowly flickered open.

"Where… is this? Seigo Harano?"

She noticed the boy sitting by her bedside.

Seiji took a deep breath in order to calm his emotions.

"It's me." He smiled lightly. "I'm delighted that you're awake, Shika Kagura."

The girl looked straight into his eyes.

"You… aren't happy," she stated calmly. "You're… sad, aren't you?"

Seiji didn't reply.

"You're definitely sad right now," Shika stated with certainty, continuing to stare at him. "You… don't want to see me waking up."

"No!" Seiji denied instantly. "I'm definitely happy to see you wake up, truly! But, at the same time, I…"

'I was sad at losing Shika-chan… the you in the past.'

How could he explain such a thing?

Should he even explain it?

Seiji was unable to say it out loud.

"I was… just a little sad for a different reason… unrelated to you." He forced himself to smile. "So, there's no need to think too much about it. Shika Kagura… it's great that you're awake again."

Shika's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Seiji's forced smile.

She felt a throbbing pain somewhere deep within her chest.

She had never experienced such a feeling before.

'Seigo Harano…' she muttered his name in her heart.

"Judging by how you're acting, I think that you probably forgot already, but I'll ask anyway. Do you remember what happened during the last two days?" Seiji asked calmly.

Shika searched her memory for an answer.

"I remember that… I went to the park and saw you there… and then… I don't know," she said after a length of time.

She felt a faint warm and happy feeling in her heart as she said this… but she didn't know what it was.

Seiji sighed. "As I expected…"

There was a brief silence between them.

"I'll be blunt, then." Seiji looked directly at her. "Shika Kagura, you've become our captive."

…

Seiji met Natsuya, who had changed out of her shrine maiden attire after he left Shika's room.

"She's awake and she has her memories back, but she forgot what happened during her bout of amnesia. I informed her that she's become our captive, and she lost her memory at one point in time due to a hidden spell. I told her that now the spell's been dispelled, we have some questions to ask her," Seiji explained.

Natsuya nodded. "It turned out the second possibility I mentioned happened: she lost her memories solely due to a spell, not because of any significant injuries to her soul… At any rate, it turned out to be easier than I anticipated."

"Yeah…" Seiji's expression seemed a little distant.

Natsuya felt that something was off about his expression.

"Did she forget everything that happened the past two days?" the president probed.

"Yep," Seiji replied calmly. "I… just told her that she lost her memory, but I didn't tell her the specifics… I hope that you won't tell her either."

Natsuya blinked in surprise. "Why's that?"

"It's because… those one and a half days seem meaningless now." Seiji averted his gaze. "Telling her will only increase her confusion."

Shika Kagura was a gentle girl.

Even though it was difficult to tell with her teenage self, Seiji was certain that she was a gentle person.

That's why she would definitely feel awful and apologetic inside if she discovered what had happened in the past two days and the true reason for Seiji's sadness.

None of this seemed necessary.

Shika Kagura didn't do anything wrong, so she shouldn't have to apologize or feel bad about this. That was what Seiji believed.

That's why it was best to not say anything.

It was best to not let her know anything.

That girl already shouldered such a heavy burden, and the incident which had occurred was completely unnecessary knowledge that would only increase her burden… especially at this point in time.

Natsuya took a long, deep look at Seiji's face.

"Alright, I understand," she replied calmly. "I won't tell her… and I'll also let Houjou-san and Hitaka know as well. Will that be alright?"

"That would be perfect… Thank you."

"There's no need for thanks."

Natsuya turned around and walked towards Shika's room.

Seiji remained in the hallway standing alone, gazing out of the window.

…

"Is that all you know?"

Natsuya was looking at Shika Kagura.

Shika nodded calmly.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Natsuya stood up to leave. "Before this incident is finished, please understand that I'm going to have to keep you confined here.

"Someone will bring you three meals every day. If you need anything at all, you can tell me now, or you can tell Hou… the person who will bring you your meals. As long as they're reasonable requests, we'll fulfill them."

Natsuya waited for Shika to speak after saying this.

Shika didn't say anything.

Natsuya turned around to leave.

"I want to know," she said in a soft-sounding voice, "while I was… suffering from amnesia, what… did I do?"

'What did I do, and just what happened?'

Shika was unable to recall it no matter how hard she tried.

But she felt that something must have happened.

Whenever she tried to recall what had occurred, she felt warm, happy… and important.

Natsuya footsteps paused, but she didn't turn around.

"What you did? You'll have to ask Haruta-kun… no, Seigo Harano this." Natsuya hesitated for a moment before saying, "His real name is Seiji Haruta."

"Haruta…" An indescribable light flashed in Shika's eyes.

"He's an exiled 'Haruta,'" Natsuya stated calmly. "In his family, he… he's always been a hated existence. Similar to you, 'Reaper's Curse' Shika Kagura.

"Also, he has a younger sister that's about the same age as you. He… was probably quite concerned about you due to all these reasons. During your bout of amnesia, he was the one who took care of you.

"Not only that, if it weren't for him, you might have ended up… even more seriously injured, or even dead."

Shika didn't respond to this.

Natsuya walked out of the room, leaving Shika alone.

The black-haired girl sitting on the bed slowly turned to look outside the window.

"Seigo Harano… Seiji Haruta."

A scene popped into her mind.

The boy that she met right when she woke up; the boy she met when she escaped to the park after losing in battle; the boy she met in the park for the first time; and his words on their first meeting.

"Shika Kagura… is it? It's a beautiful name."

"I don't need you to do anything; it's just that I heard you were forcefully taken here, so I thought that you might be feeling somewhat uncomfortable."

"Fine, perhaps I'm just meddling."

"Maybe you don't really think you mind, but… I don't want to leave you alone."

"I shall bestow the light upon you!"

"…But if you don't say anything, nobody will be able to help you."

"I'll come back here again tomorrow! At this same time and place!"

All those scenes and all those sentences flashed through her mind.

Those seemingly ordinary memories suddenly felt full of warmth and color.

Her memories finally settled on the one where he was just sitting by his bedside, forcing himself to smile.

"…I'm delighted… that you're awake."

'You don't have to think. You don't need to think. It's fine as long as you're here and you're alright.'

…Something wet was dripping down from the corners of her eyes.

Shika felt her face with her fingers and discovered that they were teardrops.

'I'm… crying? Why?'

Shika couldn't understand the reason behind her tears.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 136: "Divine Child"

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji was sipping on tea when Natsuya returned to the main hall.

"Did you find out our enemy's name and identity?"

Although Seiji seemed calm on the surface, a pent-up rage was simmering beneath.

Natsuya sat down on a chair. "Yes, I did… it was who I expected."

"Who you expected?" Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I recognized the final spell which attacked you in Shika's soul and thought of a certain person," Natsuya explained while pouring tea for herself. "There's only one person I'm acquainted with who knows how to use that spell—Okubo Yoshiaki."

She took a long sip of tea after she finished pouring it.

"He's a Yin Yang Master of the Yoshiaki family from my generation. He's one year older than me, to be exact.

"When he was young, he was viewed favorably by everyone in his family. He was known as a 'divine child,' but as he grew older, the 'divine child' didn't mature into a 'genius' as everyone had hoped. Rather, he became more and more ordinary.

"I've only met him three times. The first time was during my childhood. Back then, he was already known as a 'divine child,' and everyone in his family doted on him. He seemed prideful and haughty. Recalling how he was back then, he was basically a child that had been completely spoiled, resulting in too much arrogance."

"My second meeting with him was… when I was a 5th-grade elementary school student. At that time, he was no longer considered as much of a 'divine child.' He still was better than his peers, but he was already showing signs of being ordinary. The grim and dark expression on his face left me with a deep impression."

"The third time I met him was when I was a middle school second-year student, which was two years ago…"

Natsuya took another sip of tea as her eyes flashed with a thoughtful light. She seemed to be thinking about how to describe the meeting.

"At that time, I had a bit of a heated discussion with him… an argument, really. It was a pretty bad argument. In our passion, we asked our elders to be the judges and had a Yin Yang Master duel."

"In the end, I emerged victorious from the duel. Before the duel, he was supremely confident that he would be the ultimate victor, so… he seemed to receive a huge shock at the outcome."

"The expression he had back then left me with quite the deep impression. Even now, I can recall it clearly. It was… an expression that couldn't accept reality. It was filled with anger, unwillingness, and… hatred."

Natsuya paused for a moment.

"This unplanned duel was later taken as irrefutable evidence that the 'divine child' had become nothing more than ordinary," the president stated calmly. "Another way to put it is that I was the final straw that broke the camel's back—the final blow that knocked away all his past pride."

"It's only natural… that he would hate you," Seiji said.

"His name was included in the list of my opponent's potential identity. Now, I've confirmed it."

Silence reigned once more in the hallway.

Seiji finally raised his own cup and took a sip of tea after he finished listening to this story.

"A fallen 'divine child' trying to take revenge and prove himself by declaring a duel against his enemy… what a cliché story."

"But reality is made from clichés. Clichés are how many incidents begin."

"Now that we finally know who our opponent is, do we have any other information? For instance, just why it was that this guy dared to treat Shika Kagura in such a way?"

This was the biggest suspicion in Seiji's mind.

Recruiting the 'Reaper's Curse' as his Spirit-branded Retainer, using her as a scapegoat, and even going so far as to place a hidden spell in her soul… Didn't this Okubo Yoshiaki fear having spectacular catastrophes befall him?

Natsuya remained silent for a few moments.

"Okubo might believe that he's really strong, to the point where he can resist against any catastrophes, or perhaps he's resolved himself to withstand any catastrophe in order to defeat me… There's also another possibility: that he has a way to control the misfortune brought about by the 'Reaper's Curse…' or to mitigate it."

"What method is that?" Seiji felt like he was catching on to something.

Natsuya sighed. "That would be to… before a calamity befalls him, he makes one for himself. He either makes his own catastrophe or forces someone else to harm him."

'Harm…' A flash of inspiration came to Seiji.

In his previous conversation with Chiaki, he inquired whether any disasters had befallen the Drama Club, and the answer he received had been—

"Our 'demon' vice club president has been under so much pressure lately due to the upcoming festival, so her forceful commenting and book-throwing abilities have greatly increased! Every club member, especially the club president, is suffering because of it!"

So, was it truly since Anya Saigenji, the strange person and drama club president who "captured" Shika Kagura was being harmed (trained) at the hands of the vice club president every day that no calamities befell her!?

Seiji was left dumbstruck when he thought of this possibility. 'Wtf, is this really possible!?'

What exactly was "karma," anyway?

Even this could help to mitigate a "heaven-sent calamity," it kind of feels like "heaven-sent calamities" aren't really that bad after all!?

Seiji kept up a stream of mental comments.

Natsuya knew what he was thinking about from his expression and couldn't help but smile wryly.

After all, she found it difficult to believe as well.

For the 'Reaper's Curse' to be mitigated in such a fashion… even though it wouldn't be completely mitigated, it still sounded a little ridiculous!

Wasn't the 'Reaper's Curse' supposed to be something more mystical!?

The exact same thoughts ran through her mind when she heard Shika explain the situation to her.

So-called misfortunes or calamities could actually be paid off beforehand like credit card debt… What the hell!!?

The contrast was as stark as the gods in heaven working as the cashiers in the bank next door; in other words, it was truly outlandish!!

Natsuya let out a small cough and cleared her thoughts

"When I heard about this method… from Shika Kagura, I found it unbelievable as well, but according to her, all her previous contractors also used this method to avoid having serious calamities befall them."

"All her previous contractors?" Seiji asked in surprise.

"Yep, she supports herself financially by hiring herself out as a Spirit-branded Retainer to whoever pays her," Natsuya explained. "She used to live in an orphanage until a Yin Yang Master took her in."

"This Yin Yang Master had discovered that she was the 'Reaper's Curse.' Feeling that she was a useful tool, that person took her and trained her into a Spirit-branded Retainer."

"Afterwards, that Yin Yang Master became seriously ill. Believing it to be a calamity sent by her powers, that person exiled her."

"After some other Yin Yang Masters learned about her nature, they contacted her of their own volitions in order to sign temporary contracts with her to use her powers… to accomplish what they wanted. Then, they would dissolve the contract after paying her the contract fee."

"This continually happened… so without her realizing it, she became a mercenary Spirit-branded Retainer for hire."

"The act of hiring a human to become your Spirit-branded Retainer is supposed to be registered with the Yin Yang Master Association or dealt with by a personal manager, but she was completely unaware of the regulations… Even if she knew about it, I suspect that trying to get registered or to find a manager would likely fail as well."

That was all because she was the 'Reaper's Curse.'

Everyone wanted to take advantage of her, but also hated and feared her.

Shika Kagura had been living like this in calm isolation.

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

"As for 'mitigation…' Having some type of harm befall yourself isn't a definite method, but it was rather effective. It was a way to make use of her without having to accept dire consequences."

"If the 'Reaper's Curse' ability is used properly, it's an incredibly strong tool. As long as the risks are properly controlled, it has its own unique value, which was why various Yin Yang Masters would come and employ her," Natsuya concluded.

Shika Kagura was able to survive until now thanks to people paying her and hiring her.

The 'Reaper's Curse' caused her isolation, but it also maintained her life through this strange method.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 137: I Don't Have That Type of Interest!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

It could even be said that the 'Reaper's Curse' had protected Shika.

Shika Kagura was extraordinarily beautiful even from a young age.

Since the 'Reaper's Curse' indiscriminately harmed everyone who tried to approach her, it also helped eliminate any people with underlying bad intentions towards her and prevented anything terrible from happening to Shika herself.

Her classmates in Year 2 Class 4 of Genhana Middle School were a perfect example of this.

It was the same for the Yin Yang Masters that wanted to employ her. They would be afraid to do anything overboard to her, which was why she could still lead a relatively peaceful life.

This was… a situation that was truly difficult to describe.

Seiji felt it was rather complex.

'Let's just… stop thinking about the relationship between Shika Kagura and the "Reaper's Curse," and think about something more tangible instead.'

He changed his train of thought.

To Seiji, the treatment that Shika received seemed way overboard. However, to her and her contractor Okubo Yoshiaki, it might have seemed normal.

That bastard Okubo Yoshiaki merely ordered Shika Kagura to be a distraction, but he didn't order her to fight to the death. The spell he cast on her was also a memory seal, not memory destruction.

Did that guy believe that she wouldn't die while substituting in for the real Snow Girl, or did he simply not care if she died?

Was Shika Kagura's death in the previous timeline something unexpected for Okubo Yoshiaki?

Judging by the fact that there was a trap on the memory-sealing spell, Okubo likely believed that she wouldn't die. He probably anticipated that Shika would be defeated and taken captive, which was why he went to such elaborate lengths with his trap.

Or was it that he didn't care one whit if Shika Kagura ended up dying? After all, it wouldn't be him that personally ended her life. So just how far did his trap extend? Was it simply in case she got taken captive, or was he willing to sacrifice her completely?

Seiji really wanted to know.

But no matter what the answer was, Shika died once already due to it, and that wouldn't change.

It still wouldn't lessen his rage.

He simply wanted to know.

Well, it didn't matter even if he didn't find out, since he already decided what he would do to Okubo Yoshiaki.

Even if he ignored the fact that Okubo used Shika as a scapegoat to receive the blame for the freezing incidents, casting such vicious spells upon Shika was more than plenty to stoke Seiji's rage.

Perhaps Shika herself felt that Okubo's actions were fine.

However, Seiji couldn't accept it.

Harming someone wasn't fine just because the victim was used to it.

In Seiji's eyes, all those Yin Yang Masters that took advantage of Shika's powers while completely ignoring her feelings, the ones who put her in various dangerous situations for their own selfish needs, and only refrained from harming her out of fear for her 'Reaper's Curse' power were all bastards that deserved good beatings!

"Haruta-kun?"

Natsuya calling out to Seiji helped him to come to his senses.

"Did you say something, President? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, so I missed what you were saying."

"I was saying that perhaps we should use the 'mitigation' method as well… Since we—you, me, Hitaka, and perhaps even Houjou-san—have all had significant contact with Shika Kagura, we should 'mitigate' things for ourselves in order to prevent worse catastrophes from befalling us."

Natsuya's face became grim as she recalled the events that befell her in the previous day during her investigation outside.

"What do you suggest that we do?" Seiji thought about the example of the drama club president and her… subtle punishment in the form of the vice president's book throws.

"I don't have any ideas yet; how about you, Seiji?" Natsuya tossed the question back to him.

Seiji rubbed his chin.

"The only methods I can think of right now… A normal beating, wax torture, whipping, water torture, freezing, electrocution, clothespins, hanging, bondage, and so on… I've heard that as long as you control it properly, the victim will receive varying amounts of pain, but no marks will be left on the body."

Natsuya was rendered speechless.

She was shocked to her core!

The handsome boy in front of her seemed so proper, yet he stated so many… methods in quick succession as if it were only natural. This scene gave her an unexpected shock and threw her heart into chaos.

Seeing Natsuya's expression caused Seiji to suddenly realize the inappropriateness of his words.

"Don't misunderstand, President! I learned all this from various anime and manga! It's definitely not because I have some strange interests!!" He tried his best to clear his name.

Natsuya seemed to be frightened as she withdrew from Seiji and covered her chest with her hands.

This was basically the scene of a weak pure maiden trying her best to protect herself against a pervert.

Seiji couldn't find anything to say.

An awkward atmosphere permeated the air.

After a period of silence, Natsuya finally calmed down, put down her hands, and coughed lightly.

"Haruta-kun… It's not that… Well, I can understand you having such interests, but…"

"I said I don't have that type of interest! Please believe me!! President, it doesn't matter if you understand or not, so please stop talking about it!" Seiji pleaded with every fiber of his being.

"Er… Okay then." Natsuya appeared to accept his begging. "Your methods… er… might have some value, so… we can consider them." She tried to speak about them at face value, but she suddenly thought of something that caused her face to turn slightly red.

'Don't blush at this timing! It's terribly embarrassing to imagine what you must be thinking!!' Seiji inwardly shouted.

He was also really curious just what she envisioned…

'Cough cough, stop going off on a tangent!'

"As long as they were useful… By the way, we don't really need to 'mitigate' things immediately, do we? It's not like any catastrophes will instantly befall us, so we can take the time to consider our next course of action properly."

Natsuya nodded. "You're right."

There was yet another period of silence.

"Also," the president continued, forcefully putting the awkwardness behind her, "now that I've confirmed my enemy's identity, I'm going to formally request a duel with him. I hope to change this duel to a direct one."

Seiji blinked. "Will that work?"

"It's likely that it won't," Natsuya stated calmly. "It's quite probable that my challenge will be refused, since he's already made so many preparations, and he wouldn't allow the situation to develop into a duel, which would be in my favor."

"Then what will happen?"

"It depends on the results of our discussion… I expect that in the end, one side will be the attacker and the other side will be the defender."

"Then what's the purpose behind you doing this?"

"Making a duel request and discussing terms… this in and of itself can help us to obtain information and make inferences from it.

"Even if it's almost impossible to change the duel method, there are still details that can be discussed, and I'll do my best to take any advantage I can get. Of course, it's the same for him."

Seiji's eyebrows rose slightly. "Can I understand this as a competition between two families now?"

Natsuya blinked in surprise. "You're free to interpret it this way… you have the ability to see through certain subtle matters, Haruta-kun."

"I believe I've heard something similar from you before," Seiji replied.

"Indeed."

Seiji and Natsuya smiled as they exchanged glances.

"I have full confidence that you won't be at a disadvantage if it comes to a direct negotiation, President Yoruhana." Seiji smiled before continuing, "I'll be waiting for your good news."

"I'll put in my best effort to respond to your trust in me… For me to even reach this step has all been thanks to you, Haruta-kun." Natsuya smiled as well. "Once more, I express my gratitude to you."

"Once more, it's my honor." Seiji scratched his face and averted his gaze. "By the way, what should I do now?"

"You don't need to do anything else; you can go back to class… Or you can continue taking care of Shika Kagura." Natsuya fixed him with a searching gaze. "She really wants to know… what happened while she had amnesia," she said in a light tone.

Seiji froze for a moment.

Natsuya rescinded her gaze, stood up, and left without any further words.

Seiji remained in a daze for several moments in the hallway before he finally sighed.

'Let's go see how things are at school.'

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 138: Delicious!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

It was currently lunch break at Genhana High School.

Right before the final morning class, Seiji had called Mika and Chiaki to inform them that he was coming to lunch break.

Shika Kagura wasn't by his side.

"Hey." He smiled as he greeted the two of them and sat down.

Mika and Chiaki both stared at the lunchbox in his hand.

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "This was cooked by Houjou-senpai… er, the maid working at the president's residence."

When he called and promised Mika and Chiaki to eat lunch together at school, he had planned on buying some bread from the school's convenience store, but when Mai Houjou found out about it, she cooked a lunchbox for him.

It was a luxurious lunch!

Mika and Chiaki kept staring speechlessly at the three-layered lunchbox topped with intricate patterns. It was oozing with an aura of high quality.

This seemed like a luxurious lunchbox that could only be seen in television shows!

Houjou-senpai? Maid? Just who exactly was this!?

The pigtailed girl and tomboy exchanged glances as they felt the aura emanating from the lunchbox.

"Mika, let's go eat over there instead."

"Yep, Chiaki, commoners like us shouldn't be eating lunch together with a prince."

The two of them stood up after saying this and were about to leave.

"Hey, hey, where are you two going?" Seiji was confused about what was going on.

"To a place where we won't be blinded by your lunchbox," Chiaki stated.

"Why would it make you blind!?"

It was just a lunchbox to him, and the contents weren't particularly shiny.

"That lunchbox is telling us that mere commoners should stay away," Mika stated.

"Is this lunchbox a noble!?"

'Not to mention the arrogant type?' Seiji inwardly commented, before sighing.

"Don't act up over this; she had good intentions. Although I feel it's too luxurious as well, I thought it would have been rude to refuse her."

He finally opened up the lunchbox after he spoke, revealing an abundant amount of exquisite-looking food.

"'Enjoy this together with your friends' is what she told me."

Mika and Chiaki couldn't find any words to say.

They felt like they couldn't bear to look at the opulence of the lunchbox any longer, but the beautiful, exquisite food inside gave off such an appealing smell; in fact, it was attractive to the point where they no longer felt like leaving!

After battling with their emotions for a while, both girls relented and returned to their original seats.

All three of them picked up some chopsticks and placed some food from Seiji's lunchbox into their mouths.

Delicious!

Seiji picked up a tiny fried fish. The moment he placed it into his mouth and chewed, the delightful flavor of well-prepared fish spread out all over his tongue.

Although he'd tasted Houjou-senpai's cooking before this, he still inwardly praised it.

Well, although he didn't think that it was possible to orgasm from simply eating food, it was simply delicious, really delicious!

As an ordinary person, all he could do was give such a lacking review.

What about Mika and Chiaki's reactions?

Seiji looked at the two girls curiously.

He found out that both of their expressions had frozen solid!

"Er, what's the mat-"

He was interrupted.

He suddenly saw a flash of light in Mika's eyes!

"This egg roll… its delectable softness is clearly many levels above ordinary egg rolls, so it definitely wasn't made with ordinary eggs. It must have been cooked using the most expensive, highest-quality eggs on the market! The cooking method is far out of this world as well! The egg roll is so soft yet it doesn't lose the subtle crispiness that egg rolls should possess, and the most amazing part is that the egg's flavor stands out so much with just one bite! It's so amazing!"

'Amazing?' Seiji was stunned at this sight.

But before he could even react to Mika's sudden change, a flash of light also appeared in Chiaki's eyes.

"Not only is this barbecued meat perfectly tender, its chewiness is also flawless! And just as I was admiring its texture, a juicy explosion of meaty flavor robbed my ability to think! No ordinary meat or spices could do this. First, the meat's quality is definitely equal to or above that being served at Silver Valley, and as for spices, I can only taste black pepper, vanilla, and some type of fish sauce, but I can't figure out the composition of the sauce, although I can faintly detect that it helped to perfectly combine the meat's flavor with the other spices. In addition to this, the heat used for cooking was absolutely on point, which was the only way someone could have created such a mouth-watering savory dish!"

'What the hell!? Chiaki as well!?'

Seiji was utterly bewildered.

How did the two of them suddenly turn into characters from a cooking manga!? This didn't seem like the right story!

They both suddenly gave such expert-sounding critiques that both lacked pauses or paragraphs! They had such a hidden ability!?

Perhaps… the two of them were those that could climax simply from food alone, or the legendary type of human that could detect auras of light being emitted by food!

Seiji's mental comments were like an unstoppable chaotic tornado.

"Hm? Seigo, what's with your expression? Is anything wrong?"

Chiaki and Mika were confused at the sight of Seiji in a daze.

'You're asking me what's the matter!?'

"I'm the one who wants to ask you, what was with that just now!?" Seiji finally spoke loudly.

"What do you mean by 'what's with that'?" The two girls exchanged confused glances.

"That… that review! Both of you just said so much…"

"Review? Oh… we were just normally expressing our thoughts. This lunchbox's cooking was on a pretty high level," Chiaki explained.

Just "normally expressing?"

'Then what would be your serious reviews be like!? Would you transform and rip your clothes off!?'

Seiji's cheeks twitched slightly.

When he saw the calm expressions of the two girls before him, Seiji felt his energy being sapped away.

'Am I the one that's actually strange here? Is this the normal level for people in this world to be able to review food like they're food critics from food manga? Any average person is already at this level!?'

Seiji was beginning to doubt himself.

"It's so scrumptious; I'm really impressed," Mika praised once more after taking another bite.

"Hey, Seigo, who was the one who made this lunchbox for you? You said 'Houjou-senpai,' didn't you? But you also said something about the president's maid; what was that about?"

Seiji returned to his senses.

"Her name is Mai Houjou. She's a third-year high school student here who used to be the student council president… She's currently working as President Yoruhana's maid," he stated lightly, waiting for the inevitable impact.

Two seconds later.

"What!?" both girls screeched in unison.

As he expected, the two of them were shocked to the core.

"The former student council president…"

"Mai Houjou…"

"Is currently President Yoruhana's maid!?"

"That's how it is. I was shocked as well when I found out, but President Yoruhana and Houjou-senpai are…" Seiji explained the relationship.

"I see." Mika and Chiaki nodded in understanding.

"President Yoruhana is truly a scion from a rich and powerful family…" Mika sighed. "Seigo, you're currently living at such a scion's residence… you must be delighted."

Mika felt like needles were piercing her.

"I'm just staying there temporarily. Although it may seem like juicy news for gossip, there's nothing behind it, really." Seiji casually took some more food. "It just feels like… the food has suddenly vastly improved in quality, nothing more than that."

Judging by the expression in Mika's eyes, she still wanted to complain, but she didn't say anything else.

Chiaki smiled wryly. "Mai Houjou… Houjou-senpai had such a relationship with President Yoruhana, so her being a maid… seems reasonable, but I still feel…"

She then glanced at the luxurious lunchbox with a complex expression.

"Did the two of you know Houjou-senpai's… nickname while she was still the student council president?" Chiaki suddenly posed this question to Seiji and Mika.

Mystified, both of them shook their heads.

"No need to respond: as I expected, you didn't know." Chiaki sighed before continuing, "Her nickname was the 'Smiling Executioner.'"

Seiji and Mika were astounded by this!

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 139: Treasure

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

What was with this terrifying yet immature-sounding nickname!?

"'In this school, the only person that I'm truly afraid of is the 'Smiling Executioner' Mai Houjou-sama.' This was something that the drama club president personally told me," Chiaki stated.

The drama club president… that legendary weirdo who was basically a kidnapper, the one who debated against the school morals committee and won was actually addressing someone the same age as her with an honorific like -sama!?

No, wait, that wasn't the important part! He should have been paying attention to the contents of that quote!

"The only person she's truly afraid of…" Mika repeated dazedly.

Chiaki nodded. "You guys know that our club president is an idiot who isn't scared of anything. That's why when she said that so seriously, it gave me such a deep impression.

"Later, I checked it out due to my own curiosity and found out that President Mai Houjou… Houjou-senpai was active last year, which was right before the three of us entered Genhana High School, when she was still a second-year high school student.

"As the student council president, she ruled with an iron fist and eliminated half the clubs in this entire high school!"

Seiji's and Mika's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing this.

"Half the clubs… so Genhana High School used to have twice the number of clubs as it currently has?" Seiji asked.

"That's right, and Houjou-senpai was the one who eliminated them… She didn't lead the student council in doing this; she did it entirely by herself!"

"This… is that even possible?" Mika asked in confusion.

Chiaki sighed. "There's no need to even talk about possible or not possible, because it's an indisputable fact."

"I know it's difficult to believe, but the facts are there. Houjou-senpai used various methods to… eliminate, or perhaps I should say delete, all those clubs that she believed shouldn't exist."

"The scenes from that time sounded rather brutal… all the third-year high school students I asked didn't want to tell me the specifics, and the drama club president only used one word to describe that time period—bloodbath."

Seiji and Mika were rendered speechless.

"Houjou-senpai earned her nickname of 'Smiling Executioner' during that time. In combination with everything I found out about her, it gave me the impression that she was a truly frightening third-year high school student senpai."

"I didn't expect to hear about her from Seigo just now…" Chiaki smiled wryly as she looked back at the lunchbox.

Seiji and Mika also followed her line of sight.

The fine, exquisite food was still sitting inside, giving off a tantalizing aroma.

All three of them were lost for words.

Seiji kept looking at these delicacies while thinking back to the time he spent together with Houjou-senpai. He recalled her gentle smile, then thought about everything that Chiaki had just recounted.

Erm… just what was it, this indescribable feeling he currently had?

He didn't understand.

It was probably best not to understand.

Some things in this world were better off left alone, and it would be foolish to pay too much thought to these things.

At least he should probably leave it alone for the time being.

Chiaki and Mika also wisely chose to avoid thinking too much about this topic.

There was a lengthy period of silence between the trio.

"Seigo, how is our junior Kagura-san doing?" Chiaki asked.

Seiji blinked in surprise.

"She's already recovered her memories," he stated lightly.

"Oh? That's great news!"

"But she forgot everything about what happened while she had amnesia," he continued in a light tone.

"Oh…" Chiaki paused.

She exchanged glances with Mika before looking back towards Seiji, who seemed calm on the surface.

"Seigo… are you mad?"

"Hrm? Why would I be mad?" Seiji seemed confused.

"It feels like… something's off about your emotions," Mika said in a tiny voice.

"…Maybe something's a little off." Seiji nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm slightly… sad, that's all."

Mika and Chiaki exchanged awkward glances.

Yet another period of silence fell between them.

Seiji sighed after a while, breaking the silence.

"It's a wonderful thing for her to recover her memory without any mishaps. I'm also happy for her."

"But… how do I put it? For her to have forgotten what happened while she had amnesia… it gave me a greater impact than I expected."

"I also feel that me being this way… is rather unseemly, but there's no helping it. I can't force myself to suddenly be happy."

He was unable to ignore or instantly seal off those memories of a mere one and a half days.

That girl who kept calling himself "brother," as well as the young Shika's smile were difficult for him to forget.

…Was he awakening to the path of a sis-con?

No, no, that couldn't be! It wasn't the case!!

He wasn't a sis-con; instead, he was… er… this… seemed like…

Seiji's cheek twitched as a strange light flashed in his eyes.

"I admit it then! I'm actually someone who's awakened as a sis-con but I just lost my younger sister character so I'm feeling awful right now! Ahhh!!!"

Seiji suddenly started shouting, startling Mika and Chiaki.

Since he was speaking too quickly and didn't even use commas properly as punctuation, they didn't hear every word too clearly.

But since "sis-con" was a word that stood out too much, this was a word they both heard.

"Seigo, you…" Chiaki's expression changed drastically.

Seiji slowly looked at her, a serious expression on his face.

"From now on, you may address me as the 'fallen sis-con gentleman.'"

What the hell!?

"Don't give yourself strange nicknames like that, idiot!" Chiaki had a forceful retort at the ready.

"This is the name of my soul."

"What the hell's with saying it's your soul's name!!? Don't even imagine that people will be able to accept it just because you say it's your soul's name!!!"

'Breathe…' Chiaki had used too much oxygen with her angry retorts, so she was forced to take a deep breath.

Mika was in a total state of shock now.

Seiji scratched his face.

"Then I'll change it to…"

"No changing! No nicknames, period! Otherwise I'm going to kick you to the curb like you're an actual pervert!" Chiaki warned with a strict expression.

"Fine." Seiji gave up on the idea and averted his gaze, a melancholy look in his eyes. "I shall be the nameless sis-con then."

"Why do you keep insisting on calling yourself a 'sis-con!?' Although 'nameless' sounds a little cool, it's actually meaningless!!"

That was enough out of him! The tomboy really did end up giving Seiji a good kick.

The pigtailed girl was beginning to blend into the scenery.

Although the atmosphere may have become awkward, at the very least he was able to explain the situation.

Chiaki sighed. "So basically, you're feeling disappointed because Kagura-san forgot about the time she spent together with you."

Seiji nodded honestly.

"She… does Kagura-san know that she treated you as her brother and acted all spoiled with you while she had amnesia?"

"I didn't tell her… I didn't want her to know."

Chiaki frowned. "Why not?"

"It would only bother her," Seiji said lightly. "That time is meaningless now. If I bring it up again, it would only be bothersome for her. That's why I decided not to mention it again."

'I'm the only one who needs to remember it and feel bad about it. Even though it's saddening, I'll get over it eventually. I won't always be steeped in sadness.'

'That's why I'll just allow this short yet beautiful memory to disappear with the wind.'

Seiji felt like his melancholia was almost poetic.

His poetic musings were interrupted by yet another vicious kick from Chiaki!

"Stop acting like you're actually some sort of free-spirited depressed poet! Do you think you're being cool right now!? Idiot!!"

The tomboy even stood up and placed her arms on her hips. There was a condescending look in her eyes.

"It's obvious that you're only disappointed, yet you have the gall to act immature and pretend to think of others! You're too unseemly, you idiot!"

"Er…" Seiji was stunned.

"Just tell her what happened! Let Kagura-san know what went on between you! Even though it was only for a short period of time, but since you care so much, then it's something important to you!"

"Even though Mika and I only saw it for a few moments, the two of you really were like real siblings! She was acting spoiled towards you, and you cared about her; isn't this a warm and beautiful story? Tell that warm and beautiful story to her!"

"Tell her how much you valued your time together, and that you're incredibly sad about her having forgotten it! Perhaps she'll be bothered and confused by it, or maybe she'll find you disgusting, but… she deserves to know!!"

Seiji felt like he had come to a realization as he listened to Chiaki lecturing him.

"Since that time was so important to you, do something about it! Don't just arrogantly decide on your own that you're acting cool by burying it forever!"

"Saying that you're thinking of others, while you're trying to hide the truth and suppress your feelings. Although it seems correct on the surface, you're actually nothing more than an idiotic coward!"

"Go tell her the truth! Tell her your feelings! Even if you end up completely being rejected, that's still much better than arrogant idiocy or cowardice from trying to hide the truth, and at least you'll look cool, even if you fail!!"

Shika Kagura deserved to know that there was someone who cared about her like a real brother.

Seiji Haruta should have told her how much he liked that temporary, cute little sister.

No matter how short the time, no matter if it was only an illusion, as long as it was warm, beautiful, and valued… then it was an irreplaceable treasure!

Treasures shouldn't be buried like this.

That was what Chiaki Wakaba believed.

Seiji… accepted it.

He understood it.

'Yeah, she's right. I… was wrong. The time we spent together definitely wasn't meaningless, since it was beautiful and precious. At the very least, I viewed it as precious.

'I should let her know, and she has the right to know.'

Even if it was only for a day and a half.

We were… siblings.

Chapter 140: Bliss

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Shika Kagura discovered some strange items in her temporary room at Natsuya's residence.

A laptop, that was normal… some manga and poker cards, those were normal as well.

But she also discovered the Monopoly board game, stuffed plushies, and drawing pencils used by young children… what was with these items?

The strangest item of them all was a sketchbook.

Inside was a drawing that was rather amateurish in skill.

There was a reddish-orange sun, a large house, and seven roughly drawn characters were standing together in a row.

Shika felt strange emotions well up within her when she saw this drawing.

As she inspected the seven figures, the sense of strangeness within her only kept growing.

Finally, her line of sight fell upon the tall boy and petite girl in the center of the rough sketch.

They were smiling while holding onto each other's hand.

Even though it was only an amateurish sketch, it felt… so blissful.

Bliss?

'Why… am I able to feel bliss?'

Shika slowly held her hand over her chest.

Her current feelings were indescribable for her.

She kept staring at these two characters.

'Who drew this? Who are the people in these drawing?'

She was suddenly possessed by a strong desire to find out.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

Shika turned around to see who it was.

"I'm here to deliver your lunch; may I enter?" a gentle female voice asked on the other side of the door.

"…Please enter."

'I'm being imprisoned under house arrest, right? Why is she being so polite with me?' Shika wondered.

A girl with a light smile and a gentle look in her eyes entered the room carrying a tray in her hands. She was wearing black-and-white maid attire.

Shika didn't know who she was, but this girl felt vaguely familiar.

'That's right—the drawing!'

She hurriedly turned around to look at the sketch again. Shika noticed a smiling girl wearing black-and-white clothing in the drawing; the girl resembled the maid who was currently in front of her.

Was this… her?

She picked up the sketchbook and turned around again to compare the two.

Mai Houjou had just placed the tray on the table when she noticed that Shika had picked up the sketchbook and was looking in her direction.

That sketchbook was…

The maid blinked as her smile deepened.

She had already received an order from her master, Natsuya, to keep tight-lipped about the events which had happened over the past two days.

Since Mai was a highly intelligent person, she quickly realized the reasons behind this order.

Personally, Mai didn't particularly agree with this course of action.

That cute junior of hers was likely making a silly mistake with this.

Even though she didn't agree, since it was her master's order, she would obey.

But the degree to which she obeyed was up to her.

"My apologies, I should have cleaned up these items," Mai said as she walked over to Shika. "These items may be bothering you, so I'll clean them up right now."

She reached out to the sketchbook as she spoke.

Shika suddenly retracted her hand, preventing Mai from taking the sketchbook.

'Why did I just do that?' she wondered immediately after.

An indescribable light flashed in Mai's eyes as she witnessed Shika's reaction.

"You… would you like to keep this?"

The black-haired girl nodded slowly.

"Why is that? I heard that you've already forgotten the past two days' events," Mai said calmly.

Hearing this, Shika felt as if a light bulb had suddenly turned on in her mind.

"This is… something I used… from when I had amnesia?"

That's right—she should have thought of this long ago.

'Why didn't I think of it? The answer was so obvious.'

Shika looked back towards the sketchbook.

This was something that she used. This was something that she sketched.

'Why did I sketch this? Why did I use drawing pencils typically used by young children and draw at the level of a young child?'

'Those plushies… did I play with those? Monopoly, poker cards… those aren't typically one-player games; was someone playing together with me?'

Various doubts surfaced in Shika's mind.

Finally, she remembered Seigo Harano… no, Seiji Haruta's smile.

'He was the one taking care of you while you had amnesia.' Shika recalled Natsuya's words as her mind worked at full speed.

Shika suddenly felt something erupting inside her brain, causing her to tremble.

Those were… hazy, unfocused scenes.

She was saying something to a tall figure who exuded a warm, comfortable aura.

That person was smiling at her while patting her gently on the head with a large hand.

It was so warm.

It felt so reliable.

It felt so comfortable.

It was so… reassuring.

Her vision turned hazy in real life as well.

Something wet poured down her eyes.

Shika regained her senses and abruptly noticed that her face was tear-streaked and wet.

'What's… going on? Why… am I…'

There was a tight and painful feeling in her chest.

It was impossible for her to control her tears.

Even though she decided long ago that she would never cry again.

'But why… am I…'

The black-haired girl hugged the sketchbook and sobbed without making a sound.

Mai's smile turned incredibly gentle upon witnessing this scene.

"Kagura-san, are you expressing sadness?"

Sadness… that wasn't it.

Shika had no idea about what emotions she was currently experiencing. All she knew was that everything was a chaotic swirl.

Was this sadness? Pain? Discomfort?

It felt like none of the above.

Then what was it, exactly?

"You're crying, but it isn't a pained expression… I feel like you're experiencing nostalgia," the maid said in a gentle voice.

Nostalgia?

'I'm being nostalgic… about something that happened? Something in the past?'

The hazy scenes in Shika's mind suddenly increased in number.

Shika closed her eyes.

The most distant, warm feeling in her innermost self was…

It was snowing outside.

The room was very warm.

There was a bright and colorful anime program playing on the television.

She was watching and laughing while sitting on a sofa.

There was a tall figure accompanying her by her side.

She looked at him and said something.

He smiled gently and said, "Shika-chan…"

'Brother…'

Shika finally remembered.

The deepest memory within her. A warm, blissful feeling.

She had long since forgotten, or perhaps it should be said that she purposefully sealed off her most valuable memory.

She carefully locked it away in the deepest recesses of her heart and intended to never open it again.

That was because she felt that she didn't deserve that type of bliss.

That was because she needed to get used to living painfully in isolation.

That's why she could only say farewell to these blissful memories and forget them.

However…

A certain person caused her to remember again.

A certain person caused her to feel it again.

That blissful feeling that she thought she'd never possess again.

The scene in her mind gradually changed.

In this memory, she was seated inside the room she was currently in.

She was in the midst of drawing the sketch that she was currently holding.

Footsteps sounded from behind her.

She turned around and smiled as she called out to him.

He also smiled at her in a sincere fashion that showed he truly cared for her.

The hazy face became clear.

It was… Seiji Haruta's face.

"Shika-chan…"

"I'm right here, and I won't be going anywhere."

"How about I teach you how to draw?"

"It's just… a dream."

"I won't leave Shika-chan behind…"

"Good night, Shika-chan…"

"I'm delighted… that you're awake, Shika Kagura."

It was him.

He took care of her and accompanied her.

Like a real brother would.

He accepted her childish behavior, spoiled her, cared for her… and finally, said farewell to her.

Shika Kagura finally realized it.

At that moment.

Just why he had been sad.

She felt bliss from him again.

But she had forgotten him.

He didn't say anything.

All he did was smile.

He endured his pain in silence as he smiled for her.

"I just… was a little sad for a different reason… unrelated to you. So don't think too much about it…"

'It's wonderful that you're awake. It's fine as long as you're alright.'

'You don't need to worry about me. My sadness has nothing to do with you.'

Shika understood everything now.

Her tears dripped down onto the sketchbook she was holding.

'I'm sorry…'

Her soul's whisper seemed to dissipate into the wind.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 141: Beautiful Name

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji returned to the president's residence.

He was rather nervous at what he was about to do next.

It felt almost like he was about to confess to a girl he was secretly in love with…

No, no, that wasn't it! All he needed to do was inform Shika about what happened during the past two days! Since Natsuya let him know that Shika seemed to be curious about it, then all he had to do was casually bring it up during their conversation and explain things clearly to her.

After explaining things, he would tell her that if she wanted, they could be good friends… or something like that.

But upon further consideration, wasn't this… exactly like a confession?

No, it definitely wasn't! Although they were similar, this wasn't a confession!

'I merely awakened to becoming a sis-con! I like her younger form as a brother would, that's all!'

…But didn't this seem even worse than a normal love confession?

Seiji discovered this important fact.

Seiji received a huge impact.

Seiji prostrated himself on the ground.

"Just how should I say it, damn it!" He hammered the ground with his fists.

If he went and explained it like this, he felt that it was highly probable for him to be misconstrued as a simple pervert. He would be rejected while being looked down upon.

But he really didn't have any improper intentions. He was simply a pure sis-con.

'Hey, even sis-cons are considered perverts, aren't they!?'

"No, no! Even sis-cons are separated into pure sis-cons and dirty sis-cons! I'm pure!!"

"Pure… what?" A gentle female voice sounded out from behind him.

Seiji was shocked to his core!

He hurriedly got up from the floor and turned around to see the maid, Mai, tilting her head slightly.

The Smiling Executioner… whoops, Houjou-san!

"What are you doing, Haruta-san? I seem to have overheard you saying something strange," Mai said with a faint smile on her face.

Seeing such a smile on her face, Seiji recalled his earlier conversation with her as well as the legends he had just heard and almost broke out into a cold sweat.

"No… I didn't say anything! I was just checking to see if the floor was clean or not! Yeah, I inspected it and found that it was extraordinarily clean! This must be Houjou-san's doing! Houjou-san is incredible!!"

He attempted to justify his strange actions, but it was only after the words left his mouth did he realize how he idiotic he sounded.

Mai slowly stopped smiling.

"You can't meet my eyes, your face is all tense, and your words sound clearly unnatural. I bet you wouldn't even be able to fool an elementary schooler with this, Haruta-san."

"Er… indeed…" Seiji awkwardly scratched his face.

"Lying children aren't cute… If you don't want to say anything, then just do that. As a mere maid, I won't pry," Mai said lightly before turning around to leave.

"Wait… please wait a moment, Senpai!"

"Hm?" Mai's footsteps paused.

"Um… I want to ask how Shika is doing right now…"

Upon hearing this, Mai's lips arced upwards slightly.

"Her body's fine, but… her mental state isn't that good," she responded as she turned around again.

"Mental state?" Seiji became tense at hearing this. "Could it be… are there aftereffects?"

"I don't know… she didn't say very much, nor did she request for treatment… I'd really like to ask Milady what I should do, but she currently isn't here right now. Her cell phone can't be reached, either," Mai stated calmly.

"Let me go take a look!" Seiji instantly started taking large strides towards Shika's room. However, he paused after taking only two steps.

"Um… Senpai, just now, I'm… sorry!"

He left only after apologizing sincerely.

Mai's smile reappeared as she watched his figure disappear into the distance.

"Honestly, him and her… they're all so silly."

'Cute yet silly~'

The maid continued her work in a joyous mood and even began humming some songs.

Seiji paused in front of Shika's room.

He wanted to open the door, but he stopped himself and knocked on the door instead.

"Shika, it's me, Seigo Harano. May I enter?"

There was no response.

Just as Seiji was becoming even more worried, a gentle female voice spoke up from inside.

"Please enter."

Seiji pushed open the door and entered.

He saw the petite girl inside clutching and looking at a sketchbook.

That was…

He raised his eyebrows in surprise as he scanned the room, finding that everything in it was the same as when he was playing together with Shika-chan!

'Why wasn't any of this cleaned up?' Doubts appeared in his mind.

Did Houjou-senpai forget to do it? Or was it that she was busy with other matters, so she left it for later?

Neither of those seemed like they were correct.

'Forget it; that isn't important!'

Seiji approached Shika's bed.

"Shika, I heard that your mental state isn't so good right now, so how are you feeling?" he asked in a gentle manner.

The girl who currently had her back to him slowly closed the sketchbook.

"Seigo Harano… Your real name is Seiji Haruta, right?"

"Eh?" Seiji was surprised at this. "It… it is," he admitted. "Who told you? President Yoruhana? Or Houjou, the maid?"

Shika didn't answer him.

"This… I didn't intentionally try to conceal it from you. I just… used an alias for some personal reasons." Seiji awkwardly scratched his face. "If you're unhappy due to this, I apologize."

"You don't need to apologize," Shika responded softly. "Seiji Haruta… just like Seigo Harano, they're both beautiful names."

"Eh?" Seiji was confused at being praised so suddenly. "Er… thank you."

This was the first time someone had said something like this to him… it was praise, right? He felt almost itchy and somewhat strange inside.

'That's right, this sentence…'

"Didn't I say this to you when we first met? I remember I said something like 'Shika Kagura… is a beautiful name.'"

Seiji smiled as he recalled the fond memory.

"So it's been returned to me. I never knew what it felt like to have someone praise your name."

It felt nostalgic, even though their first meeting was merely a few weeks ago.

"At that time… I could never have imagined that things would turn out like this," Seiji exclaimed as he mused on the nature of the situation.

Watching the girl's back, he felt like he had so much to tell her, but he didn't know how to begin.

There was a momentary silence in the room.

Seiji slowly turned to look outside the window.

"Hey, Shika. That time… on that rainy night, you came. I told you that I would be there waiting for you at that time again… you didn't respond, but you still came."

'And then, you died in front of me. Leaving behind… only those pure white dying words.'

Seiji recalled the bitter memories that only he possessed; the ones he would never be able to forget.

During that rainstorm, he swore to become her friend.

She accepted it, but still ended up dying.

Being unable to accept it, he loaded back time and saved her.

"…I was delighted at seeing you come that night.

"No matter if it was because you wanted to ask for help, or if it was simply because you didn't want me to wait there in vain, or… even if you only went there coincidentally, I'm still quite happy.

"That's because I was worried about you."

Only when seeing her again did he notice that he cared so much for this girl, who, despite being lonely and struggling with intense pain, died smiling in the icy cold rain.

He sympathized greatly with her plight.

He truly worried about her.

"I… don't quite know why I'm so worried about you, since we've obviously only met twice before that, and we haven't even talked all that much. But I just… want to care for you."

Before he said that would be her friend. This was a promise.

Even though these were words that she didn't know about and hadn't heard before in this timeline, a promise was a promise.

"I want to become your friend. I want to help you. I want to… see your joyous smile."

'Not sadness, and not a smile that only comes when you're on the verge of death. I want to do so many things together with you.

'I want you to experience the beautiful things the world has to offer. I made such a promise with you.'

Seiji closed his eyes and recalled that scene during the rain.

In order to fulfill his promise in the current timeline, he had to exert his full effort to make her understand his feelings!

"I… think that you're a good girl, Shika Kagura. You deserve a blissful life… no, you absolutely must have one!"

'For someone like you who never even complained about the world despite being in such a difficult situation, you have this right; you deserve it.'

"I want you to know the feeling of bliss; that's why at that time I…"

His words were interrupted.

Even though there were so many things he still wanted to say—when he impulsively hugged her, and she mistakenly took him as her brother; how he decided to play the part of her fake brother, but didn't anticipate the fact that she lost her memories and truly treated him as her "brother."

He wanted to tell her about how she pleaded to be spoiled by him like she was a young child, and that he truly cared for her. He longed to tell her about his sadness when he saw all this disappear when she recovered her memories… and so on.

He wasn't able to say any of that.

That was because he suddenly felt a warm, soft touch together with a faint and pleasant smell.

Seiji widened his eyes in surprise and saw… Shika Kagura hugging him tightly.

Her embrace was reminiscent of Shika-chan's.

"You don't need to say anything else," she whispered in a soft, emotion-filled voice. "I already understand. I know everything now."

Shika slowly raised her head.

She displayed a soft and cute expression, overflowing with gentleness and innocence, to the dazed boy.

"Seiji… Brother."

Chapter 142: From Now On

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Ding!*

[A character's connectivity rating to you has surpassed 100. You've received that character's reward card].

[A female character's favorability or connectivity rating to you has surpassed 100. You've now unlocked the 'Spiritual Power' statistic, as well as the 'Spiritual Abilities' option. You may now exchange points for items to increase your Spiritual Power stat and use Spiritual Abilities to obtain points or items].

[A female character with spiritual powers has a favorability or connectivity rating to you that has surpassed 100. As a reward, you've received a card for free—[Spiritual Ability activation card].

A few lines of text appeared in front of Seiji.

'Spiritual Power statistic? Spiritual Abilities options!?'

Seiji's system suddenly reminded him of its existence and helped him to come back to his senses.

Although he was quite curious about his new abilities, it currently wasn't a good time for him to check them out.

Seiji smiled back at Shika, who was smiling so movingly.

"Calling me that… seems a little embarrassing."

He softly hugged the girl and slowly pulled her closer.

Just like before.

"But… I'm so happy. I… don't even know how to express it."

He enjoyed her warmth, becoming aware of just how inwardly moved he was.

"You… remember everything?"

Shika slowly shook her head.

"There are still some parts that are hazy, but I remember the main parts…"

Seiji took a deep breath.

"Wonderful."

Those memories he saw as precious were recalled by her. She considered them important as well. This was the best outcome.

The two of them hugged in silence for an indeterminate length of time.

Seiji slowly let go of her as the tumultuous feelings in his chest finally calmed down.

Shika also let go of him.

Seiji scratched his face. "How did you remember?"

He was under the impression that she would completely forget everything or only have faint impressions. That's why… Ahh, it was too embarrassing to remember!

"Natsuya Yoruhana told me that you were the one who took care of me while I had amnesia. Seeing the items in this room gave me a strange feeling, and the maid here gave me some hints…"

Shika slowly and clearly explained things to Seiji while keeping her eyes constantly focused on his face.

Seiji felt that his face was beginning to burn up a little as she watched him with those deep, emotion-filled eyes of hers.

Wait a moment! Was this akin to some type of shameless role-playing?

He wanted to stop himself but couldn't… Eh? Was that the correct usage of this phrase?

'Forget it! Who cares? I'll just die in shame!'

"I thought that you'd forgotten completely, so I didn't want to burden you any further. That's why I didn't tell you…" Seiji paused for a moment. "But Chiaki, the silver-haired girl in your sketch… er, she always likes to wear the boys' school uniform, so Shika-chan… might've mistaken her for a boy when you had amnesia. At any rate, she pointed out that I was making a huge mistake, which was why I wanted to explain everything to you now. That's why…"

He seemed to be rambling? Just what was it that he wanted to say?

Seiji averted his gaze, looking at everywhere except Shika as he somehow managed to explain things before looking back towards her again.

He saw that Shika was still looking at him with such deep feelings in her eyes.

Ahh…

He was no longer able to even speak.

"Brother Seiji~"

Seiji felt that his heart had been pierced!

The black-haired girl was smiling in her own beautiful unique style, but she was using Shika-chan's soft and cute tone of voice to call him brother. This was too much for him to handle!

It felt like he was on the receiving end of a secret ultimate hidden combination technique from a fighting game.

"Can I call you that from now on?"

"Mmm… of course."

Rapidly increase mental resistance levels! Sergeant Haruta, construct fortifications to preserve your sense of logic and reason!

Seiji was worried about whether or not he would… but this type of request was impossible to refuse, so he definitely couldn't refuse it!

Sergeant Haruta accepted the mission while resolving himself for possible death in the line of duty!

"Brother Seiji…" Shika was grinning at him.

Yet her grin was tinged with a hint of sadness.

"I'm thankful for everything you've done for me," she said. "But I still possess the 'Reaper's Curse.' If you get too close to me, you'll… That's why…"

"There's no that's why!"

Seiji decisively interrupted her when he realized what she was about to say.

"I'm already so close to you, but aren't I still fine? Even if something happens to me in the future, I'll definitely be able to overcome it! That's why you should never say something like that! Don't try to push me away, and don't try to keep me at a distance!

"Shika Kagura… Shika-chan, I'm going to stick as annoyingly close to you as I can! Resolve yourself!"

'I'll never let you pass away from this world while in isolation again. I'll accompany you to the future together.'

Seiji stared directly into her eyes, his gaze filled with stubbornness and determination.

Seiji seemed to be smiling, yet it was clear he was on the verge of crying.

"But…"

"Believe in me!"

"I'm…"

"You're the 'Reaper's Curse,' I know! But you still don't know who I am yet!"

Seiji Haruta pointed at himself with his thumb. His manner seemed to suddenly become imposing.

"I am Seiji Haruta! The Haruta family is actually the Kamijou family! I'm the descendant of the strongest Yin Yang Master in history, the only person who ever truly contained the 'Reaper's Curse,' Seimei Kamijou!

"I have the strongest bloodline! I'm truly powerful! I'll become even more powerful in the future!! I'll even… surpass my ancestor!!!

"The 'Reaper's Curse' can't do anything to me! Nothing will ever harm me!!"

'Well, I possess the ability to save and load. And my system just increased even further in strength just now, thanks to you. I'll use my newfound power to take care of everything!'

That's why…

"That's why you should stop thinking like that! Don't say or do such foolish things. Just obediently be my friend—it's fine to just be my little sister as well!"

Seiji flashed Shika a brilliant smile brimming with self-confidence, energy, and passion.

To Shika, Seiji's smile seemed to be as blinding as the sun.

The dark iciness in her heart could only melt under the sun's warmth.

Tears trickled out from her eyes once more.

"I… can I… really?"

'Can I really enjoy such bliss? It's not only a temporary fantasy; I'll have it even now and in the future…'

"Of course." Seiji's tone was adamant.

He reached out his hand to pat her on the head just like before.

Pat pat, console.

"You can… I can… We can go on living together. Shika-chan… I'm going to call you this from now on. You're not allowed to object or refuse."

His somewhat forceful words seemed to pierce through Shika's heart.

She smiled through her tears, and the sadness in her smile disappeared.

'Believe in him.'

Her heart was telling her that.

Objectively speaking, it still seemed like he was acting rather pretentiously, but… rather mysteriously, it didn't sound like he was being hypocritical at all.

His imposing manner was just that powerful.

Even the gods would likely respect someone with such an imposing manner.

Perhaps he really could turn his "pretentiousness" into reality…

Shika wanted to believe him.

Shika was willing to believe him.

She wanted to pin her hopes for leading a joyous life in the future on him.

"Brother Seiji… please take good care of me from now on."

"Yep, Shika-chan… me as well. Please take good care of me from now on."

And thus, the two of them smiled as they promised to stay by each other's sides.

This promise started from her death, and it would continue until… death do them part.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 143: Is There a Bug in the System!?

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

After a long period of time.

Seiji finally left Shika's room and told her to take a good rest.

His current mood was a joyous one.

It was almost as if he had succeeded in a love confession.

No, no, they just promised to be good friends… no wait, to treat each other as brother and sister, the pure kind of relationship!

…Really?

Really! Shika was only a second-year middle school student! Even if… even if their relationship became even deeper in the future, it definitely wouldn't happen now!

Seiji suddenly came to his senses as he commented on himself.

He forcefully suppressed the emotions in his chest by reciting the numbers of pi again.

'Yep, okay, I've regained my composure.'

Seiji had a fresh and bright expression on his face as he returned to the main hall.

He poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it slowly as he opened up his system.

In his personal statistics, he saw the new stat of [Spiritual Power] just as his system had informed him.

[Spiritual Power: 0]

The system didn't even leave a quirky comment next to it.

Even more unexpectedly, Seiji didn't have any options to increase his [Spiritual Power]!

Seiji's brows furrowed.

[Academics, [physical ability, and so on all had options to help Seiji increase his stats from the very beginning, but there was nothing for [Spiritual Power].

How was he supposed to increase it then?

It wasn't really important that the system didn't even comment on this stat, but what did it mean for it to be so different from his other stats? It seemed rather mysterious.

His biggest priority was to increase this [Spiritual Power] stat. If there was no way to increase it, then…

After remaining silent for a few moments, Seiji opened up his new [Spiritual Abilities] menu.

After opening it up, it was blank inside.

Blank… what the hell!!?

Seiji was in a state of shock now.

Hey, hey, system, just what do you mean by this?

'Didn't you just tell me something about [Spiritual Abilities] being able to grind for points and items as well??'

What was with all this blankness!? Was there a bug in the system!?

Of course, the system didn't respond to anything that Seiji said or thought.

After finishing his stream of comments, Seiji opened up his [items] menu to check what he just received.

[Character reward card "Shika Kagura"—from now on, I'll always be with you.]

[This card will have an everlasting passive effect. This card cannot be used or disappear.]

[All basic stats increased by a bonus of 3 points.]

[30% increased resistance against ice-type spiritual magic attacks.]

[30% increased attack against ice-type spiritual magic defense.]

[??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 1: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 2: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 3: Brother and Sister Drawing (Drawing prerequisite met.)]

[Drawing improvement ability: 65% increase in ability to draw brother or sister characters and improved visualization technique. Mana will be consumed while using this technique. "The distance between a brother and a sister might be the closest or the furthest apart in the world."]

[Additional ability 4: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 5: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

[Additional ability 6: ??? (Prerequisite conditions not met. Currently inactive.)]

Seiji was speechless for a good long while.

He felt as if he had just received some godly equipment, but he was too low-level to equip it.

Just what the hell was all this!?

He didn't even feel like imagining the system as a fairy and beating it up anymore. He merely felt drained of all energy.

Well, at the very least, there was still one more reward.

He inspected the [Spiritual Ability activation card] that he had received. It was called [Spiritual Ability—Spiritual Power Transference activation card]. It would activate the [Spiritual Power Transference] option.

That was all that the system told him.

This explanation… it wasn't any type of explanation at all; it was just increasing the word count!

System, you might as well have left it blank as well if you wanted to act cool!

It had already left two blank sections for him.

Was it simply because it didn't want to use blankness three times in a row, so it forcefully added a few words in!?

Seiji energetically kept up a stream of commentary on his own system.

After he had nothing more to say, Seiji sighed.

'I might as well use it and check out its effects.'

Seiji had a sudden epiphany right before he was about to activate the card.

Wait a moment! Perhaps this was all some devious scheme?

The character reward card aside, it seemed rather abnormal that his [Spiritual Power] and [Spiritual Abilities] were blank, and the activation card was basically a reiteration of its name as the explanation.

Seiji imagined the system as a fairy chuckling at him evilly again.

He felt as if activating this card would be like opening up a jack-in-the-box which would have something strange pop out at him. There was a chance that some unusual situation would occur.

He shouldn't use it so casually in the main hallway.

Seiji closed his system, finished his tea, and went back to his temporary room in Natsuya's residence.

He closed the door and lay down on his bed before opening his system again and choosing the activation card.

He mentally prepared himself and activated it!

The [Spiritual Ability—Spiritual Power Transference activation card] broke up into six flashes of golden-red light. The six flashes of light proceeded to shoot into his head, chest, both hands, and both feet.

Seiji felt a strong sense of soreness from his entire body; it was akin to the sensation of dissolving!

His mind went completely blank as he was no longer able to concentrate or make conscious thought.

He witnessed countless scenes, heard countless sounds, breathed countless smells, and touched countless items in a dream-like state. After experiencing infinity, everything became nothing again as he forgot all his experiences.

…

Seiji slowly opened his eyes.

He reflexively tried lifting his hand, but when he tried doing so, he felt an incredible sense of soreness.

It was a feeling similar to having exercised for far too long after not exercising for a long period of time. It was a type of intense muscle soreness.

What just happened?

'Oh, right, I used that activation card, then…'

Seiji slowly recalled what had happened.

He tried moving his hand one more time, then his feet, and then his body. He discovered that every inch of his body was incredibly sore!

His head also felt rather numb, and his thoughts were dull and sluggish. Just what the hell happened!?

This [Spiritual Ability] activation card was just too much! In comparison to this, the discomfort from the [fighting, [writing, and [drawing] activation cards was nothing!

Seiji sighed to himself before realizing that the sunlight entering the window had become rather dim.

Was it already dusk?

Just how long had he been unconscious for?

His body screamed in pain as he took out his cell phone and checked the time…

'Well, that's a relief. At least I don't need to go class anymore as it's already over!'

Seiji inwardly praised himself for returning to his room before activating the card. Otherwise, if he collapsed in the hallway for such a long time, Houjou-senpai would definitely notice and that would inconvenience him.

His system was really toying with him this time around.

Seiji's face twitched as he opened up his system again.

'You better have given me something really good for all you put me through, bastard!'

Upon first inspection, he noticed that his [Spiritual Power] stat had increased to 5 points!

An increase from 0 to 5… still seemed rather… pointless.

The important part was still how to further increase his [Spiritual Power] stat!

He then opened up the [Spiritual Abilities] menu and, as expected, he saw the new option of [Spiritual Power Transference].

Apart from this, there were one, two… three new options!?

Seiji was stunned at the sight. 'Hey, hey, didn't I only use one activation card?'

Was the system being generous today? Impossible! There must have been a bug!!

'Calm down. Resist the numbness in my brain, and check over everything carefully.'

The three new options were [Spiritual Power increase, [Mana increase, and [Contract with a Spirit-branded Retainer].

So this was how to increase [Spiritual Power]!

As for [Mana, that was probably something akin to increasing MP.

As for [Contract with a Spirit-branded Retainer].

Contract!?

Seiji's eyes widened in surprise.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 144: You're Actually…

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

He instantly opened up the [Contract] option and saw—

[Shika Kagura]

[Beginner-level Spiritual Retainer, uncontracted]

[Special characteristics: Possesses a unique ability. Well-balanced type. High growth rates. Incredible potential]

[Available contract: Connectivity Contract.]

Seiji inspected the [Connectivity Contract] more closely.

According to his system's explanation, a [Connectivity Contract] was a contract that would automatically become available when a potential retainer character's connectivity rating to him exceeded 100. After both parties agreed to the contract, the retainer would change from [Uncontracted] to [Connectivity Contract] status, which would decrease his [Spiritual Power] stat by 10 in order to maintain. In return, 10 points would be produced every day, and the retainer's abilities and growth would be greatly increased, with new abilities being awakened as well!

All this seemed quite good.

However, Seiji tugged his lips when he saw the next message.

[Contracting condition: Make the potential retainer into a contracted Spirit-branded Retainer in the real world.]

Although he was willing to contract Shika as his personal Spirit-branded Retainer, he wasn't even a Yin Yang Master!

This thing wasn't something he could use immediately. Why did such an option appear, anyway?

Seiji checked his system's message history in order to understand what had happened.

Moments later, he understood.

After activating the [Spiritual Power Transference] ability, he had received a huge shock to his physical body… and while he was in a state of semi-unconsciousness, many things had happened.

The [Spiritual Power Transference] ability activated automatically and began transforming the [Karma of Reaper's Curse] power into [Spiritual Power].

The system didn't give any explanations for this so-called [Karma of Reaper's Curse, but it was most likely referring to the abnormal catastrophes that were supposed to befall him as a result of approaching the [Reaper's Curse].

This [Spiritual Power Transference] ability passively converted the [Reaper's Curse] into his own [Spiritual Power]!

It also used up a portion of his stockpiled points as payment.

He was able to absorb 5 [Spiritual Power] in this conversion, costing him 25 points.

A ratio of 1:5… it was acceptable.

Seiji paid more attention to the fact that his dating sim system was able to transform the [Reaper's Curse] ability into his [Spiritual Power, as it helped him to gain some insight into the system's workings.

His [Spiritual Power] increased to 5 points, and his two character reward cards from Hoshi and Shika gave him a bonus of 6 to all his stats, so he actually had 11 [Spiritual Power]. This helped to activate three new options: [Spiritual Power increase, [Mana increase, and [Contract].

The first two options required a minimum [Spiritual Power] of 10 points to activate.

The [Contract] option also required 10 points in addition to a retainer character with a favorability or connectivity rating of above 100 to activate.

That was how he obtained these three options.

It was quite wonderful that his system wasn't bugged.

Of course, the system didn't reply and stayed silent as always.

Seiji quietly stared at his system's menu as if he could pierce through it with his vision and see it for what it really was.

"According to Natsuya Yoruhana, the only person in history to ever successfully suppress the [Reaper's Curse] was Seimei Kamijou, my ancestor. I… as Seimei Kamijou's descendent, I have a mysterious and powerful system.

"This system has the ability to absorb and transfer power from the [Reaper's Curse]. In conclusion… system… dating sim system, DS system, whatever I call you, you're actually the strongest Yin Yang Master in history, Seimei Kamijou, aren't you?" he stated his inference out loud in a light tone.

This was doubtlessly a shocking revelation.

Seimei Kamijou… although Seiji still didn't know much about him, Seiji faintly detected just how far his ancestor's power spread throughout the realm of Yin Yang Masters.

If this person was still alive or still existed somehow in a unique method in one of his descendant's bodies… just how much of a wave would it cause in the Yin Yang Master society?

Others notwithstanding, the Haruta family would surely be thrown into utter chaos!

Their most venerated ancestor still existed in this world, within the body of one of his descendants… not to mention a descendant that had been exiled from the family! This would surely shake the entire family down to its core.

Seiji thought to himself that it even seemed like a cliché story trope that he would often see in his previous life.

Well, this was still just his guess.

As always, the system didn't respond to anything he said.

Perhaps the dating sim system was actually Seimei Kamijou, or perhaps it was a power derived from his bloodline, or something else entirely.

Or maybe Seiji simply mistook everything in the first place, and this system had nothing to do with Seimei Kamijou. It simply had power equivalent to his ancestor's.

The system… he decided for himself to call it a dating sim system, but he still didn't know just exactly what it was.

It seemed probable that it was connected to Seimei Kamijou, but in the end it was just his guess.

Seiji smiled after silently thinking it over for a while.

"Well, no matter what you are, system, I… I'm truly grateful to you. I don't know whether or not you were responsible for taking my soul into this world after I died on Earth, so that I could live again. If you were responsible, then I owe you my life.

"Also, I was only able to save Mika, Hoshi, and Shika-chan thanks to you… I have no words with which I can express my gratitude… And apart from this, you've helped me learn how to fight, how to write… and you've given me so much assistance.

"At any rate, thank you so much," Seiji sincerely said all this out loud.

Perhaps there was a hidden motive to the system helping him, but so what? He had already died in his previous life as an otaku, so even if something happened to him, it couldn't get much worse than dying again.

Seiji was rather open-minded.

He didn't know what the system was. Maybe he would find out in the future, or maybe he would never know.

Seiji continued checking out his menu after expressing his gratitude.

Unbeknownst to him, a hazy white shadow had appeared behind him.

The faint shadow seemed androgynous, and it exuded a gentle silver light from its eyes. Its mouth was arced upwards in a faint smile.

'No need to be polite, Lin…kun,' the white shadow silently mouthed before disappearing silently.

It was as if it had never appeared.

Seiji inspected the [Spiritual Power increase] and [Mana increase] options.

The only option under [Spiritual power increase] was called [Visualization, and it was grayed-out and not selectable. According to the explanation, a [Spirit Image] was required to assist him in [Visualization].

There was no explanation available as to what a [Spirit Image] was supposed to be.

As for [Mana increase, there was only one option of [Beginning Technique, which was also grayed-out. The explanation said that he could only choose it when he was wearing a [Mana Cultivation Outfit].

Fine then, a [Spirit Image] and a [Mana Cultivation Outfit]…

Seiji felt that he would need to ask President Yoruhana about these.

But she viewed him as a normal person who knew nothing about spiritual cultivation, so asking these specialized vocabulary terms all of a sudden would surely raise her suspicions.

'Hmm… how should I ask her about it? Wait… perhaps I can ask Shika-chan instead?'

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 145: Spiritual Power and Mana

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Dinnertime.

Shika, who was reading some manga while relaxing on a chair, heard a knock on the door.

"Please enter."

Rather than the maid whom she expected, the person who entered was a handsome boy.

Seiji smiled. "Shika-chan, I'm here to eat dinner together with you."

Shika paused in surprise for a moment, before a smile slowly bloomed on her face.

"Thank you…"

"There's nothing to thank me for; I just wanted to eat together with you."

Seiji brought two trays of food over and placed them on the table.

"I… haven't eaten together with anyone for a terribly long time," she informed him in a soft voice.

Seiji's hands paused in midair upon hearing this.

"That's why… thank you," Shika said, gazing directly into his eyes.

Seiji turned around and patted her on the head.

"I've received your gratitude, but starting from next time, there's no need to thank me anymore. We'll be eating together quite often in the future."

Seiji retracted his hand and smiled warmly at her after patting her twice on the head.

"Okay…" Shika nodded as an indescribable light flashed through her eyes.

Their dinner was emitting an appetizing aroma.

They sat diagonally across from each other and began enjoying their succulent meals.

Seiji watched her as he ate.

Shika took tiny bites and ate slowly, giving him the impression that she was a small animal.

Shika blinked and returned his gaze when she noticed him watching her.

'How cute…'

Seiji couldn't help but recall the way she ate during her bout of amnesia. While she also took tiny bites, she ate quickly with a sparkle in her eyes.

Which of the two was cuter if he did a comparison?

Both were really cute!

Ding!* Sis-con rating increased by 5 points.

Seiji imagined hearing such a sound in his mind.

"Brother Seiji, what's the matter?"

"Nothing… I just felt that the way you ate is really cute." A trace of red crept into Shika's face upon hearing this. "Brother Seiji… you look really cool when you eat as well."

Seiji was rendered speechless at this unintentional comeback.

He suddenly realized how embarrassing it sounded!

Why did it feel so embarrassing when the target being praised was switched to him!?

He had only felt it was a normal exclamation when he was talking about her… Was what he said actually something so embarrassing after all?

Seiji's face also reddened.

Shika was still looking directly at him.

Unable to take it, Seiji averted his gaze.

Shika continued to look directly at him.

"Er… why do you keep looking at me? Eat! Let's eat!" Seiji panicked a little as he lowered his head and focused on chowing down.

Shika's mouth arced upwards as she finally stopped gazing at him and lowered her head to eat as well.

After a period of silence.

"Shika-chan," Seiji started, "do you know how to increase Spiritual Power?"

Shika's movements paused for a brief moment.

"Yes, I know… why do you ask?"

"Do I even need to say it? Of course it's because I want to increase my strength and become a Yin Yang Master," Seiji stated calmly.

'I will become strong' was what he promised her.

Shika blinked in realization. 'I see. He's… already beginning to work hard for his goal.'

"Increasing Spiritual Power… The most basic and most common method to increase Spiritual Power is called 'Visualization,'" Shika said in a soft voice.

[Visualization]! Excellent, the first question was right on the mark.

"What is 'Visualization?'"

"To explain it roughly, it means observing and imagining. In Visualization, you must observe a 'Spirit Image' and imagine it wholeheartedly. If it's done properly, your consciousness will temporarily reside within the image and experience it."

"What's a 'Spirit Image?'"

"It's an image that's drawn using Spiritual Power. There are various images used for cultivation, used in casting spells, and also spell formations…"

"For 'Visualization,' it would have to be a cultivation-type Spirit Image; do you happen to have one?"

"Yes, only one… They're considered really valuable."

"Oh…" Seiji took another bite of food.

A valuable cultivation tool… Shika obviously wouldn't carry it around with her.

"I was thinking that I could borrow one from President Yoruhana and attempt cultivating… Er, will it use up the Spirit Image if I cultivate with it?"

Shika shook her head. "No, Spirit Images only have time limits on when they expire, but they won't be used up."

"So it doesn't matter if it's used or not, as it will become ineffective once it reaches its use-by date?"

"Yes."

"Then I won't feel bad about borrowing one." Seiji continued shoveling food into his mouth. "Oh, right, about Mana… just what is the difference between Spiritual Power and Mana? I only know that Yin Yang Masters also require Mana…"

Shika seemed to consider the question he posed.

"To use an analogy, Spiritual Power is like a bowl." She pointed to her own food bowl after thinking about it. "And Mana is like rice. In order to contain rice, you need a bowl. The larger the bowl, the more rice it can contain, but the amount of rice in each bowl is different for each person."

"For two identical bowls, some people have more rice, while some people have less. If a small bowl has enough rice in it, it can equal a large bowl that doesn't have much rice in it…"

"The normal situation is that larger bowls have more rice, and smaller bowls have less rice."

Seiji attentively listened to her analogy.

It didn't seem too difficult to understand, at least in his mind.

Spiritual Power was like a vessel, while Mana was the substance which filled the vessel. The vessel itself determined the maximum storage capacity, but not everyone would reach their maximum capacity. There would be those with high Spiritual Power but low Mana.

Usually people with higher Spiritual Power would possess a larger amount of Mana.

Seiji made an educated guess. "To cast spells, it costs rice to cast them… whoops, Mana, right? And Spiritual Power won't be used up… and the stronger your Spiritual Power is, the faster your Mana will regenerate, is that right?"

Shika nodded in response.

It seemed that his guess was correct, so his understanding of it must be correct as well.

"Spiritual Power is the foundation that must be raised first, and mana must be raised as well… so how do I increase my Mana?"

"You have to wear a 'Mana Cultivation Outfit' and perform a 'ritual.'"

Yep, he heard some vocabulary words that he wanted to hear again.

"'Mana Cultivation Outfit' seems like it's really easy to understand. It's just like it sounds: a special outfit which helps you cultivate, right?"

Shika nodded again.

"Are they also as valuable as Spirit Images?"

Another nod.

"Will it be used up after a ritual?"

Yet another nod.

"This seems like it will be more difficult to borrow." Seiji rubbed his chin. "What does the ritual involve, then?"

"It's… actions, breathing, incantations, spirit… everything combined." Shika seemed to think of something as she put down her chopsticks and suddenly stood up. "It's difficult to describe, so let me show you."

After walking a moderate distance away from the table, she stood up straight, turned her palms upwards, placed them in front of her, and closed her eyes.

Seiji was instantly able to detect a change in the atmosphere.

It almost felt as if something invisible was gathering here.

Was it… the Mana present in the environment?

Before he could finish his thoughts, Shika began her movements.

Her hands began moving about in seemingly gentle yet steady movements… it gave Seiji the impression of shadowboxing.

"Ee--" A sonorous sound came out of her mouth. "La--So--La--Yo--"

The words didn't seem to have any particular meaning; they were just musical notes that were connected together by tones.

In combination with her hand movements, this definitely seemed ritualistic.

Her feet began moving as well.

Again, her feet were moving in light yet steady movements. It was akin to a dance.

Her hands and feet kept waving and weaving as she sang her mysterious incantation. It seemed like she was both dancing and practicing martial arts at the same time.

The feeling of something invisible coalescing in the air became even stronger.

Shika was at the eye of the storm.

Seiji slowly started to get absorbed in her performance.

So beautiful…

It wasn't a dance, yet it resembled one… Watching such a mysterious performance by a beauty like Shika was a type of enjoyment in and of itself!

Finally, Shika stopped her steps, drew a circle with her hands in midair, exhaled lightly, inhaled, and her breathing returned to its normal rhythm.

She opened her eyes and looked back at Seiji.

What she saw was his smile as he began applauding.

"So this is a ritual… it seems so beautiful when you perform it, Shika-chan!" Seiji praised her sincerely.

Shika's face turned red once again at hearing this.

Even redder than before.

Chapter 146: Gradually Slipping into the Abyss

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'Honestly, Brother Seiji is so…'

Shika was feeling embarrassed inside.

But, strangely enough, it wasn't uncomfortable… in fact, it felt rather nice.

Eating together with him, speaking with him, and being praised by him… was really enjoyable.

She almost felt like crying when she compared her current life with the way she used to live.

'No, I shouldn't cry here. I should be smiling in front of him at such a time.'

Shika displayed a smile that came from her heart again.

Her slightly shy and moving smile almost caused Seiji to fall into a daze.

Only when she sat down again did Seiji regain his senses.

'My little sister's too cute! What should I do!?'

He felt that he was gradually slipping into the abyss… No, he had to stop thinking about it!

"Thank you for your performance. I understand what a ritual is now, so we can finish our meal."

"Yeah…"

Neither of them spoke for a while after this, and only the sound of the pair eating remained.

Since the 'ritual' was what Shika just performed… then the [Beginning Technique] in the system was probably referring to the most basic version of what she just performed.

Seiji presumed it was similar to an entry-level technique in martial arts.

If he truly wanted to learn cultivation, he would have to wear a special outfit… he was rather curious about its appearance.

'Would Shika-chan look even prettier if she performed that ritual again while wearing it?' Seiji really wanted to see it. 'Well, I'll have plenty of chances in the future!'

…The abyss was beckoning.

'So what!? I really want to see!!'

Seiji forcefully banished his idle thoughts after inwardly commenting on himself.

"Ah… I have one last question: how do I become a Yin Yang Master? Are there any other conditions apart from Mana and Spiritual Power?"

Shika shook her head. "I don't know. I… I'm just a retainer, so I only know about retainers."

"Oh…"

"Sorry…"

"Eh? You don't need to apologize, it's not like this is anything to apologize for. If you don't know, you don't know." Seiji smiled again as he patted her on the head. "Don't say sorry so often, especially to me," he said in a forceful yet gentle tone as he looked into her eyes.

"Okay…" Shika nodded slightly.

She felt like crying again. How unseemly…

She needed to get used to this feeling.

The warmth and comfort… that she received from being together with him.

…

After they finished eating dinner.

Seiji brought the trays and plates back to the kitchen, where Mai informed him that Natsuya still hadn't returned.

Due to this, he decided to go back to his room and grind for some points.

Even though absorbing the [Reaper's Curse] today cost him 25 points, he still had plenty left over, so he wanted to exchange for something, but…

'I have a new statistic now, with a new category of options and four lesser options within it, but there's no new [Items] to go along with this update! Just what are you thinking, system!?' As usual, Seiji had a stream of energetic comments.

This was completely against the maxims of any successful MMORPG!

A massive update must be accompanied by new items that people could spend money on! If a huge update didn't have any new products to purchase, not only would the game lose out on large potential profits, the richest players would curse at the game developers!!

This otaku that wanted to spend his money (okay, points) was angry!

But in the end, it was all useless.

After finishing his immature small fit of rage, Seiji could only silently grind whatever he could.

Then he logged on to his email and discovered that Editor Yoshizawa had sent him a new message.

The contents of the message stated that his short novel "I'll Die If I Don't Become Handsome!" had been formally accepted by Thunderbolt Literature.

As long as he printed the contract in this email, signed the bottom, and mailed it to their editing department, his novel would be published in next week's magazine.

Published! Published! Published!! Important things need to be repeated three times.

'My story is going to be published!' Just imagining it filled Seiji with a burst of overwhelming excitement.

This story wasn't one that he plagiarized from his own world; it was an original work completely created using his own imagination!

Although his system improved his writing level, he still came up with his own characters, story, and setting. Everything he wrote was a product of his own mind.

This type of accomplishment and joy was wonderful.

Seiji had high expectations for when he would be able to first witness his story in a magazine.

But before that, he needed to sign the contract.

Was there a printer in this residence?

Seiji left his room in order to search for Mai.

There were some sounds coming from the main hallway.

"Houjou-san, I'd like to…" Seiji started—but when he entered the hallway, he instantly retracted his words.

That was because he witnessed the scene of Mai Houjou watching TV while imitating the singing and dancing actions of the idol girl group that was performing.

"I truly wish~~ You'd embrace me~~ On that sunset-stained hillside~~ I like you~~"

The beautiful girl in black-and-white maid attire was dancing happily with light, quick steps as she smiled brilliantly while making various cute poses with her hands.

Seiji was completely stunned at this sight.

He just stood there at the entranceway to the main hallway with eyes wide open and mouth agape, watching Mai flutter around like she was a little girl.

The former student council president…

The Smiling Executioner…

The person that even the drama club president, no that every Genhana High School senior feared…

The older sister figure whom Natsuya trusted so wholeheartedly, the mysterious maid that Seiji felt seemed gentle on the surface and reserved on the inside, was actually… doing such…

Seiji didn't know how to describe his current feelings, nor did he know what his current expression was anymore.

He was only capable of staring in shock at the figure before him.

"Sunset shimmer~~ Color the sky orange~~ Your passion~~ Is burning like the sun~~ I love you~~"

The idols' song on television reached its climax.

Mai also jumped together with them, forming a heart with her fingers as she sang together with them in a small voice.

Finally, she turned around and did an extravagant pause for her finishing flourish.

Of course, she locked gazes with the boy who was frozen solid.

Mai froze solid as well.

The idols on the television finished their poses and smiled as they stood in a neat row, bowed towards the audience, and left the stage.

In the hallway, however, time itself seemed to freeze.

The air was so heavy that it felt tangible.

It was just as if Izayoi Sakuya cast her time manipulation ability… oh right, that character was a maid as well.

As was typical of Seiji's mind, it started commenting energetically as soon as it began working again.

Mai was still frozen in that ridiculous cute pose. Not even her smile budged a centimeter, despite the fact that quite a while had passed.

She seemed petrified.

"Um… Senpai?" Seiji decided to break the silence.

Mai's body trembled.

She slowly straightened herself from her pose, retracted her smile, lowered her head, and averted her gaze.

Seiji could detect that something was brewing within her.

It seemed… rather ominous.

Just as he felt a sensation of danger and was about to do something to defuse it, Mai opened her mouth and spoke.

"You… saw everything?"

A low, chilling voice came from the maid who still refused to meet Seiji's eyes.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 147: I Promise on My Virginity!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Killing intent.

Seiji was certain that he had, for the first time, detected the legendary so-called killing intent in real life!

This was a basic instinct that humans possessed to protect themselves from danger.

How was he supposed to answer this question?

Just as he was attempting to come up with a suitable answer, three conversation options appeared in front of him—

[A: No, I didn't see anything.]

[B: Yes, I saw it.]

[C: I felt like I just saw something… but I've already forgotten it.]

The correct answer was probably C.

Honestly speaking, C wasn't exactly an ideal option; it seemed too unnatural!

But B sounded like suicide, and A was basically lying through his teeth, so by process of elimination, C was the only correct answer.

"Er… I felt like I just saw something, but I've already forgotten it…" Seiji averted his gaze and pretended to look elsewhere. "Eh? Why am I standing here?"

Ding!* [Favorability rating has increased!]

The killing intent vanished.

Yes, that was the correct answer!

Seiji inwardly praised the system for helping him out of this dangerous situation.

Across from him, Mai slowly turned around to face him.

Her face was completely red, and her expression still seemed rather awkward.

To describe it in anime terms, Mai's current expression greatly resembled Rena Ryuuguu from Higurashi. The blank expression in her eyes indicated that she was on the verge of going crazy.

Seiji broke out into a cold sweat upon seeing the expression on his face.

If he answered incorrectly just now… what would have happened to him!?

He didn't dare imagine it.

Just let everything he just witnessed fly away with the wind! Seal those memories! Bury them completely!!

"You… did you really forget about it?" she asked him in low, hoarse voice.

Seiji tried to act normal. "Yep, really, I don't even know why I'm standing here right now. Please allow me to go back to my room and consider this topic."

He could always ask to borrow a printer tomorrow.

Mai nodded. "Oh… please go ahead."

Seiji turned around, walked out of the hallway, and returned to his room.

At first, he was walking at a normal pace, but he gradually quickened his footsteps.

His room was right before him.

He reached out to turn the door handle, but right at this moment… a hand was silently on his shoulder.

"Junior… actually… wouldn't it be impossible for you to forget it?" A low and gentle female voice sounded from behind him.

Terrifying!

This is so scary!!

Seiji felt as if all his hairs were standing up on their ends.

'Houjou-san, you'll really scare me to death like this! Don't use your skills as a maid to move around soundlessly like this!!'

She almost seemed like a ghost.

"Junior…"

If she said a line like "vengeance~~" right now, it would literally be like a classical ghost haunting.

"Senpai…" Seiji's cheeks were twitching slightly. "I… definitely won't tell anyone. You… can relax about it and let me go."

Seiji felt like he was about to be forcefully sent to heaven!

"How could I possibly relax…" The gentle female voice began to sound abnormal… no, it sounded abnormal from the very start. "If Milady learns about this, I…"

Seiji's shoulder was about to pop out from being clutched so tightly.

'This maid's strength sure is abnormal.'

"She won't find out, I promise."

"You… what do you promise with?"

Eh, he felt like he heard something similar to this before?

Oh right, last time, he… gave such an embarrassing response.

He didn't expect to hear such a question again, but this time he wasn't going to respond that way!

Seiji had a flash of inspiration.

"I promise on my virginity!"

This time he would answer Gintama style! Cough cough, stop going off on a tangent.

The hand on his shoulder shook at this answer.

"Virginity?" The ghost… whoops, Mai was confused at this response.

"Virginity is a gentleman's… an otaku's most important asset," Seiji explained in a serious tone. "You can understand it as something similar to a normal person's most important moral principle."

"Oh…"

It sounded rather strange to Mai, but since Seiji had explained it to such an extent, she felt like she had no choice but to let it go.

"Alright, I… will believe you… Junior."

The hand on Seiji's shoulder was finally retracted.

Seiji inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good night, Senpai."

He was about to open the door to his room.

But he was grabbed on the shoulder yet again!

'Just what else are you about to do, Sister!?'

"Thank you… for being willing to keep my secret. Allow me to treat you to some good food."

This time, her voice finally sounded normal.

'Well, this is much better.'

Seiji tugged at his lips. "Can I call for Shika-chan… for Shika Kagura to join us?"

Mai paused in surprise for a short second at hearing this, before smiling.

"Of course."

…

The gentle yet bright orange-yellow glow of the lights in the corridor illuminated the three people walking through it.

"So Senpai was referring to red bean cakes when you said you would treat me to something delicious."

Seiji recognized the object that Mai showed him.

Mai smiled as she nodded.

"I personally made these red bean cakes. I didn't put too much sugar into these, so they're not particularly sweet, but I hope that you'll enjoy them."

Red bean cakes were a traditional dessert in Sakura Island. It was a gelatin-style dessert made using beans. Usually, they were made with red beans and chestnuts, but there were a large variety of available flavors.

The red bean cakes that Mai shared with them were a translucent blue. They looked beautiful—almost like works of art—under the light in their porcelain dishes.

Shika, who was beside Seiji, stared unblinkingly at the red bean cakes for a good while.

Although her face was expressionless on the surface, Seiji could tell that she was really looking forward to tasting them.

Mai began pouring tea after she set out the red bean cakes for them.

When the clear green tea was poured into the cups, the fragrant aroma of tea began to envelop them, causing this atmosphere to seem almost poetic.

'No, not seem; it definitely is poetic,' Seiji thought to himself.

Watching the quiet night scenery together with two beauties while drinking top-class tea and enjoying sweets personally made by one of the beauties… how could such a scene not be poetic?

At this moment, Seiji experienced peace, quietness, and bliss.

"Please enjoy." Mai smiled and invited them to begin after she finished pouring tea for everyone.

Seiji and Shika exchanged glances before both reaching out and placing the teacups on their palms as they took a sip.

Yep, delicious tea.

The tea's temperature was just perfect—it was neither scalding nor lukewarm. The tea's rich flavor lingered in his mouth, leaving him with a feeling of deep satisfaction.

Next up were the red bean cakes.

Shika's eyes sparkled as she took a toothpick, pierced one of the red bean cakes, and placed it into her mouth.

Her eyes widened, and her expression was filled with joy as she closed her eyes in ecstasy.

So she didn't turn into a character from a cooking manga…

'Cough, stop getting sidetracked.'

"Is it delicious?" Seiji asked, smiling at Shika.

Shika nodded vigorously.

"Then you should properly thank Houjou-senpai, as she treated us out of the kindness of her heart."

"Mmm… Thank you." Shika gave the maid Mai her sincere thanks.

"No need to be so polite." Mai smiled gently; she seemed quite pleased.

Seiji also tasted a red bean cake.

The moment he chewed, the cake melted in his mouth… it truly dissolved instantaneously!

Its appealing taste combined with the aftertaste of the tea created a brand-new rich, complex flavor. The flavor seemed sweet, bitter, and aromatic at the same time, causing him to savor it.

Well, with Seiji's level, that was the best description he could come up with.

If Mika or Chiaki were present, perhaps they'd be able to come up with long essays about it, or even show their climaxing faces… just joking.

"It's truly delicious… everything that Senpai cooks is so wonderful," Seiji praised sincerely. "Anyone that marries Senpai would surely lead a blessed life."

Full points in cooking skills and top-notch at housework! As long as you ignored some strange little things, hmm… a perfect wife!

At any rate, any man that could be together with her would surely be a lucky one. That was what Seiji believed, anyway.

Suddenly he noticed that the atmosphere felt somewhat strange.

Turning around, he noticed that Shika was staring at him, and Mai was also looking at him, her eyes slightly widened in shock and her face flushed red.

Seiji was rendered speechless.

'Did I say something wrong?'

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 148: Let's Work Together on a Story!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'Why are they looking at me like that? All I did was…'

Seiji thought back to what he just said and realized that they must have misunderstood his words.

He hurriedly tried to defend himself. "No, no, Senpai! What I meant was that anyone who married you would be lucky to be with you! I wasn't talking about me… er…"

Shika's expression didn't change, while Mai narrowed her eyes.

"I understand… Haruta-san, you fool all the girls with this act of yours."

"Er, fool?" Seiji was confused. "I'm not trying to fool anyone; I'm just stating my honest opinion."

Mai's face reddened even further as she averted her gaze.

Shika blinked cutely. "Brother Seiji… is a playboy?"

"Why did such a word suddenly appear here!?" Seiji asked in disbelief.

'Just how was I acting the part of a playboy? All I did was make a mistake with my words; is it really necessary to brand me as a playboy!?'

"Shika-chan, you can't just go around casually calling people 'playboy,' especially your brother. I'm a righteous, chaste man!"

The girl that he forcefully recognized as his younger sister and the embarrassed maid reacted with nothing but silence.

Seiji continued sipping tea after he finished his serious performance.

"Kagura-san, as you see for yourself, Haruta-san… is an idiot."

"Yeah… Brother, his mind works… in a subtly different way from other people."

Cough cough!* Seiji almost choked on his tea.

What was all this? Why was he being looked down upon!? Forget about the strange maid saying weird things about him, even Shika-chan…

If this was a manga, there would be numerous question marks popping out above his head right now.

Shika and Mai both ignored his presence and merely drank tea as if they were long-time friends who had reached a mutual understanding.

The atmosphere seemed a little strange.

'Forget it. It isn't necessary to argue over every word's meaning with them.

'Being together with girls means that I shouldn't care about every little detail. Yep, I'm such a magnanimous fellow.'

Seiji inwardly praised himself for his tolerance.

After a period of silence.

"Houjou-san, is there a printer in this residence?" Seiji asked the question that he wanted to ask originally.

"A printer? Of course. What do you want to do, idiot… whoops, junior?"

Seiji's cheeks twitched violently. 'You must have said 'idiot' on purpose! You must have!'

Once again, he reminded himself to be magnanimous by not arguing over every little word. Otherwise there would be no end to it…

"I wanted to print a contract for a story I wrote…" He continued to explain that a publishing company had picked up his story.

Mai blinked in surprise. "Oh…? Junior, you've written a light novel which got accepted by Thunderbolt Literature. That's not shabby," she praised sincerely.

"I was just fortunate," Seiji replied with a humble look on his face.

Suddenly he noticed that Shika was looking at him, her eyes sparkling with light.

After a while, she expressed her desire: "I'd like to read… the story that Brother wrote."

That's right; she was originally a literature-loving girl.

Seiji smiled. "Of course. I'll send you the file in a bit, Shika-chan."

Then he thought of something.

"Shika-chan, you read books often, so have you ever considered writing your own story?"

Shika paused in surprise before shaking her head.

"No…" Her face gradually darkened. "Even if… I wrote one, I don't know… if I could show it to other people…"

There was a brief period of silence.

Would the [Reaper's Curse] ability even affect those that read Shika's stories?

Seiji didn't know. But as long as Shika was worried about that, she wouldn't even want to pick up a pen due to her gentle nature. She would hate to harm others, even if it were only a possibility.

Seiji had a heavy feeling in his heart.

Shika was currently supporting herself financially by hiring herself out as a mercenary Spirit-branded Retainer. That was why she kept being harmed. In order for her to break free from this lifestyle, he had to first help her find some other method to support herself.

Although he could take care of his adopted younger sister as her self-proclaimed adopted brother, she might lose her self-confidence or pride because of it, and he didn't want that to happen.

As for money? Money was never a problem to Seiji.

If he wanted to, he could get money any time through saving and loading. A single lottery ticket was all it would take!

Before, he didn't want to abuse his power, since he believed in earning money through his own hard work. But if he really needed money for an emergency purpose, he wouldn't hesitate.

And if he attracted too much attention by suddenly winning the lottery, he still had the option of borrowing money from any of the rich people around him, such as Chiaki Wakaba, Natsuya Yoruhana, or Hisashi Juumonji. He would definitely return their money afterward.

At any rate, money was the least of his concerns; what worried him was Shika-chan herself.

Just what should he do?

"Shika-chan… why don't you work together with me to write stories?"

"Work together?" Shika asked him in a confused tone.

"Tell me your thoughts about the characters, story, background, and settings… and I'll be in charge of writing it all out.

"Of course, I'll also add in my own ideas. In summation, you'll provide your ideas, I'll also provide a few of my ideas and write the story, and we can try to get it published together afterward.

"If our story is published successfully, we can split the payment. I'll take 60% and you'll take 40%."

Honestly, Seiji wanted to reverse the ratio, but he knew that she definitely wouldn't accept that.

"Is that… really fine?" Shika still seemed doubtful.

"I think it's fine, since I'll be the one doing the writing, and I'll also add in my own content. This way, the finished product will belong primarily to me, so it shouldn't… affect others like how you're worried about," Seiji said calmly.

Doing it this way probably wouldn't result in the [Reaper's Curse] affecting others.

Otherwise, if the [Reaper's Curse] was that ridiculously strong, it would have destroyed Sakura Island long ago when it appeared in the distant past.

Honestly, this ability seemed rather subtle, just from the fact that it could be "mitigated." It was indeed scary, but calling it terrifying seemed to be an exaggeration… At any rate, Seiji felt it was unnecessary to worry too much about it.

It wasn't like this ability was a weapon meant for war.

Shika was a good girl, and it was nice that she was gentle, but being too gentle and worrying too much about others to the extent of throttling her own future and personal interests was a bad thing.

Since she worried that her stories would cause calamities to befall other people, then he would take responsibility for the stories.

A clear way to put it was that Seiji believed himself to be a simple-minded person who would do what was necessary without thinking too much about it.

Shika remained silent for a little while.

"I don't know whether or not I can do it… but I want to try. I want to… write stories together with Brother Seiji!"

Her eyes blazed with a passion light.

Seiji smiled at witnessing this sight.

"Then come." He reached out his hand to her. "Please take good care of me, Teacher Kagura."

"I-I'm no teacher!" Shika's face turned red as she shook Seiji's large hand. "I'm the one who should call you Teacher, Brother! Teacher Haruta, please take good care of me."

And thus they agreed to cooperate.

Mai witnessed all this with a gentle smile.

"Also…" Shika began.

"Hmm?"

"As for the payment, I only need 20%… no, 10% is enough," Shika said.

"Nope!" Seiji countered instantly, sipping his tea in a casual manner. "We've already agreed on it! You get 40%."

"But…"

"If you keep going on about this, I'm going to increase it by another 10% and give you 50%!" Seiji remained calm as he took another red bean cake.

"Er…" Shika didn't know what to say anymore, and she revealed a dazed expression.

"Haha…" Mai, who was observing the sibling's conversation on the side, couldn't help but chuckle.

'These two are just too cute…'

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 149: Magic-Devouring Dragon

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

And so, the evening tea party concluded joyfully.

Seiji returned to his room first and sent his story to Shika's email. After that, he sought out Mai.

Mai was waiting for him in front of a room on the third floor.

When she saw him arrive, she opened the door of the room for him and led him inside.

There was a large window directly across from the door in this room. The right side contained a row of bookshelves while a large desk outfitted with a comfortable-looking chair stood on the left side. There were three computer monitors arranged on the desk together with one laptop, some file-folders, books, and photographs.

Beside the desk was also a high-quality scanner/printer/copier machine in one—it was a common model which could be found at any business.

This room was obviously Natsuya's study.

Mai turned on the printer, before starting the laptop and inputting a password.

"Go ahead and use this to download your contract and print it."

"Okay, thanks."

Seiji logged on to his email, downloaded the contract, and selected the "print" option.

The printer whirred and quickly began printing his contract.

During this space of a few short seconds, Seiji scanned the bookshelves in search of anything interesting.

'Aha… I found it!'

On the farthest left corner of the bookshelf, he noticed an entire row of manga books as well as a row of CD cases containing anime episodes.

"So the president's also an anime and manga lover."

Seiji sighed and walked over to take a closer look at these all-too-familiar items.

Even before temporarily moving into her residence, he already suspected that she might have such interests, but he never had the chance to ask her directly about it.

When Mai brought some manga for Shika-chan to read, he believed it was further evidence of his inference being correct.

That was because the manga was clearly used before, which meant that they weren't purchased recently at a bookstore and were already here!

Natsuya Yoruhana wasn't an otaku at all, but she did understand anime and manga to some extent. This meant that she would sometimes watch or read them, but she wasn't at the level of an otaku, meaning she simply enjoyed them.

'This is rock-solid evidence of her personal interests,' Seiji thought to himself as he browsed through Natsuya's collection. He felt even closer to her now.

"Indeed, Milady does enjoy these, especially anime and manga about Yin Yang Masters, demons, and spirits." Mai smiled as she walked over to Seiji's side. "But she's worried about the elders perceiving her as immature, so she restrains herself. She never watches or reads such things at her main home, and she'll only do it here."

Seiji snorted. "Tsk, there are always some rigid old fellows who believe anime and manga are only for young children."

In his previous life, Seiji was an extreme 30-year-old otaku; he definitely didn't care about the biased opinions of these so-called "mature people."

Without even understanding the beauty of the 2-D world, they condescendingly looked down upon and discriminated against anime and manga. Just what was "maturity" supposed to be to them?

Seiji could comment on this topic for well over a century.

'Forget it. Anyhow…'

"These rigid old fellows will die eventually… whoops, I mean pass away. Just let them believe what they want; the future belongs to young people anyways."

Mai covered her mouth to conceal a smile upon seeing the boy before her express such an obvious sense of distaste.

"Haruta-san, you're really such a… resolute otaku."

"Yep, that's right. I've been one for my entire life." Seiji smiled as an enigmatic light flashed through his eyes. "I love anime and manga, and I love everything 2-D. All the beauty and brilliance humanity is capable of is within them. Well… of course some ugly or strange things are also in them, but that's what makes them an enriching experience.

"Any person can find in manga and anime what they can't find in reality. Perhaps what they are looking for doesn't even exist in reality. Perhaps… they are seeking forbidden or taboo pleasure. Regardless of their nature, there are endless possibilities within manga and anime, because the limit is only human imagination! Everyone can find something to enjoy.

"We can find people with common interests and enjoy the experience together. We can also refuse to communicate with those whose views different ours, in order not to obstruct or harm others.

"Everyone can construct their own perfect world; that's the type of place the land of manga and anime is."

Dreamland, Utopia, Shangri-La, Fairy Land of Peach Blossoms… all of these were different terms for humanity's fantasies. They were eternally peaceful and blessed places to live in. None of them had ever been actualized, and they might never appear.

But they existed in humanity's imagination.

Fantasy and imagination were things that every human being could enjoy. The actualization of fantasy was the 2-D world.

That was because the 2-D world could display the splendor of such places!

At least that was what Seiji believed.

Mai quietly listened to Seiji's explanation.

As a non-otaku, she wasn't particularly struck by the nuances of Seiji's speech, but she faintly felt that what he said sounded reasonable.

So imagination was the limit of possibilities…

'Well, it sounds… grand.'

"You're an excellent public speaker, Haruta-san." Mai grinned at him. "Even I am slightly infected by your enthusiasm."

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "It wasn't a speech or anything; I just wanted to voice my feelings."

He could have continued for even longer. There was no way to verbally express his full love as an otaku for the 2-D world.

But that would become essay-length material, so he decided to stop midway.

At this time, the printer beeped to indicate that it had finished printing.

Seiji examined all the pages and ensured that there were no problems. He then went back to the computer, logged out of his email, and deleted the downloaded contract.

"Alright, thanks for your help. Let's leave now."

"Haruta-san…" Mai had stopped smiling and her expression was serious.

Seiji detected that she had something important to say, so he also put on a solemn face.

"What is it, Houjou-senpai?"

"You intend to continue living in the future together with Kagura-san like this, yes?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then how do you intend to… deal with her ability?"

"I'll just take things as they come. No matter what happens, I'll deal with it."

"Do you truly believe you're capable of doing that?"

"I can."

Thanks to his [Spiritual Power Transference] ability, he didn't need to worry about the [Reaper's Curse] at all. In fact, Shika-chan's ability was even beneficial to him, since he could constantly improve his [Spiritual Power] stat using her karma power!

But he wasn't able to say that out loud.

Mai studied Seiji's expression thoroughly but failed to find a hint of false bravado or fear.

This could only mean one of three things: he was either supremely self-confident, extremely idiotic, or…

"You have something you can rely on… is that it?"

Seiji blinked. Unsurprisingly, Mai Houjou had seen through him.

"You can say it like that. I… have my own type of power."

Mai also blinked in response.

"That's good… Courage and resolution are good and all, but it's nothing more than foolhardiness unless you have the power to back it up," she said, sighing lightly.

"Thank you, Senpai, for worrying about me… for worrying about us." Seiji detected her genuine concern and smiled. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you more than that… You don't need to worry too much for our sakes. We'll continue living together successfully."

Mai's usual gentle smile reappeared.

"I just wanted to confirm your safety, since Kagura-san's ability… is rather unique. Everyone has their secrets, so it's fine if you don't want to reveal yours. No need to feel apologetic, Junior."

They exchanged glances and smiled as they reached a mutual understanding.

They then proceeded to walk out of Natsuya's study together in silence.

"By the way, Junior, do you know about your current nickname in school?" Mai asked as they walked downstairs, unable to conceal the mirth in her tone.

Seiji had an ominous premonition. "Nickname… what?"

"Everyone at school now knows about your heroic accomplishment at the karate club, and many students have taken to calling you the 'Magic-devouring Dragon.'"

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

'What the hell!!?'

Chapter 150: Spirit Image

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

"Magic-devouring Dragon…" was this supposed to be an upgrade from "Destroyer of Clubs!?"

This was almost like getting a job change in a video game!

Seiji's eyebrows rose to their maximum height as his expression distorted heavily.

Mai couldn't help but cover her mouth and conceal another smile upon seeing this.

"Senpai, how did you learn about this nickname?"

"My friend told me about it. Even the third-year high school students know about your name now, since what you did… was truly astonishing."

Seiji couldn't find any words to respond to this.

"You single-handedly defeated all the members of the karate club and trampled over their corpses as you conquered the 'twin witches.' After that, you treated the crying twins mercilessly and devoured them completely as if you were a vicious and greedy evil dragon…"

"Slow down! Wait a moment!!"

Seiji was completely shocked to his core.

"What's with this overly exaggerated legend!? I didn't actually face off against the entire club! What the hell's with saying I 'trampled over their corpses' or 'devoured the twins completely!?' Why was I turned into some sort of incredible villain!?"

An incredibly cliché villain at that.

"You didn't deny treating the crying twins mercilessly," Mai observed; as always, her intuition was sharp and on the point.

"Oh…! That's… there's a reason for that!" Seiji received an impact from this. "At any rate, I'm not a villain. There was a reason behind everything I did! This legend is a ridiculous lie!"

"No, Junior, the legend wasn't an exaggeration. I made all that up just now~"

"Senpai!!"

Mai couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Seiji's cheeks kept twitching nonstop as he watched her laugh.

"Senpai, aren't you also called… something like the 'Smiling Executioner?'"

Mai's expression froze over. "Er…"

'Oh, nice! So she minds this nickname!'

Seiji felt he had discovered a chance to counterattack.

"Ah, I was really startled when I heard my friend telling me about it. Houjou-senpai who appeared so gentle on the surface actually had such a scary nickname~"

Seiji pretended to be gossipy and did his best to talk in an exaggerated tone.

The corner of Mai's mouth was beginning to twitch.

"According to the legend, you did something truly frightening last year, to the extent where not a single high school third-year student dared to even speak of it again. In my ears, it sounded like an atrocious disaster; one which people wouldn't even want to ever recall again."

Mai's eyebrows were beginning to tick up and down.

"Junior…"

"My friend even said that her legendary club captain, who is reputed to be utterly fearless and was unafraid of debating against the entire school morals committee, stated that the only person in the entire school she feared was Houjou-senpai! The reason was due to Senpai's magnificent accomplishment which still remains a mystery to me! I'm actually quite curious about what it was~"

Seiji's voice grew increasingly energetic as he recounted the story.

"Junior…" A dark and chilly voice sounded from beside him.

"Senpai, you…" Seiji turned to look at her and instantly froze solid.

Mai was now standing there while still smiling. However, the chilly aura emanating from her made this maid seem like Hell's own messenger.

"Would you like to try dying?" she asked him in a gentle voice.

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

'Hey, don't just steal a line from Hell Girl like that!'

Even while breaking out into a cold sweat, he was unable to stop himself from inwardly commenting on the situation.

After a few seconds of silence.

"Er… Cough, my apologies, I wouldn't want to try." Seiji retracted his exaggerated expression and tone of voice.

"Then shut up." Mai's smile seemed harmless and gentle.

"Yes…"

The atmosphere seemed rather awkward now.

Seiji turned to go to his own room when they reached the second floor.

"Haruta-san."

"Oh, is there something else, Houjou-senpai?"

"If you need any assistance, or want anything at all, just let me know." Mai continued smiling at him. "I might not be of much assistance, but I'll help you as much as I can in my capacity as a maid."

Seiji's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Then he smiled sincerely. "Thank you so much for the offer."

'I've received your heartfelt message.'

He sincerely gave her his thanks.

Mai blinked at this before turning around and leaving.

As he watched her figure walk down the corridor, Seiji suddenly recalled something.

"That's right, Senpai, about something I want…"

"Hmm?" Mai stopped in her tracks and turned around again.

"Spirit Image… you should know what it is, right?" Seiji inquired in a serious manner. "If there are any here, I'd like to borrow one. Is that alright?"

Mai remained silent for a moment.

"I know what they are… and we do have them here," she said haltingly after a moment of consideration. "You want to… begin cultivating?"

Seiji nodded.

"I don't feel like you're an ordinary person, but I don't feel either that you're…" Mai inspected him from head to toe. "Do you know how to begin cultivating?"

"Yes, it's called 'Visualization,' right?"

"'Visualization' is correct, but 'Visualization' is separated into many different types and methods. Do you know what to do specifically?"

Seiji furrowed his brows at this.

He didn't know, but thanks to his system, all he would have to do was obtain a Spirit Image and choose the [Visualization] option in his system under [Spiritual Power Increase]. That was all he had to do.

"I… know."

Mai kept her gaze fixed on him. "Your answer doesn't sound very definite."

"I really do know… well, it counts as knowing," Seiji told her honestly. "As long as I have a Spirit Image, I'll be able to cultivate… I'm sure of this."

Mai stared at Seiji's face for a long while.

"Cultivating is neither safe nor easy. If you attempt it by yourself, it's actually quite risky. Did you know that?"

"I didn't… but I believe that I'll be fine." Thanks to his system, he was unconcerned about such a thing.

"Just where does your self-confidence stem from?"

Seiji smiled mysteriously. "Senpai, didn't you just say that everyone has their secrets?"

"I'm somewhat regretting saying that now." Mai sighed. "Right now I'd really like to know what you're hiding."

Seiji merely continued to smile mysteriously in response.

After another period of silence, the maid finally spoke up again.

"The Spirit Image isn't something portable that I can bring to you… put away your contract in your room and then follow me."

"Thanks!"

Seiji hurriedly put his book contract on the desk in his room before following Mai.

Mai took him to a room in the left corner of the first floor.

It was a narrow storeroom filled with various wares.

Seiji felt that this didn't seem like the right type of place to store such an item, but noticed that Mai walked to the right side of the room, placed her palm against the wall, and said something in a low voice.

Click!* There was the sound of some mechanism activating.

Seiji then witnessed the floorboard in the center of the room soundlessly slide away to reveal a hidden set of stairs leading downwards.

"This place… had a basement?"

He suddenly felt like he was about to explore a secret base!

"Go downstairs." Mai indicated for him to go ahead of her.

Seiji began walking down the steps. It got darker and darker as he continued descending, but there were lanterns on the walls that illuminated the passageway with their orange-yellow flickering lights.

Seiji entered a corridor upon reaching the bottom.

The moment that Seiji entered the corridor, every light in it automatically turned on, revealing various spell formations on the left side, and several thick wooden doors embedded in the right wall.

Mai came down and walked past him, heading for the wooden door closest to the staircase.

Once again, she pressed her palm against the door and murmured something in an inaudible voice.

The wooden door opened soundlessly.

Mai entered with Seiji following after her.

'This is… a forest!?'

Seiji was stunned.

This didn't seem like any type of secret base that he ever could have imagined. Tall, leafy trees stretched out endlessly, lanterns hanging from every branch. The air was filled with tiny flying lights… fireflies were everywhere!

He was currently standing in a small clearing in the forest, which was where they entered this room.

When he lifted his head, he saw the deep and beautiful night sky, embedded with countless shining stars.

There was a peaceful aura about this entire place thanks to the lanterns' and the fireflies' illumination.

There were also some insects chirping melodiously from somewhere that couldn't be seen.

All of this gave this space a wondrous feeling to it.

Mai stood in the middle of the small clearing.

There was a stone pillar before her with a gigantic brush art painting hanging from it.

"This," she said to Seiji, "is a Spirit Image."

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 151: Visualization

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji walked closer and observed the watercolor painting closely.

The first image that caught his attention was a handsome man wearing a tall black hat and clad a white wide-sleeved robe… it was a traditional Japanese hunting robe. The handsome man had a clean-shaven face and a clear complexion. He was making a Naruto-like jutsu pose with one hand while looking off into the distance.

Beside the man were various demons and spirits. Seiji saw a cat demon, a dog beast, a demon fox, a Snow Girl, an Arachne, and a Gorgon… all of these were drawn with impossible detail; Seiji felt as if they could come to life and leap out of the painting at any moment.

"'Spirit Images' are drawn by 'Spiritual Artists' using their own spiritual powers. There are various types of Spirit Images, and each one has a different use. This one is a Spirit Image that's used in cultivating spiritual power," Mai explained.

Spiritual Artist… it was yet another new term.

"'Visualizing' in front of the Spirit Image will improve your Spiritual Power if successful, but if it isn't successful…" Mai paused before continuing, "The most ordinary result is simply a waste of your time and no improvement in your Spiritual Power. But the worst outcome would be that your soul will become damaged."

Soul damage—it was his second time hearing this term.

"Just what exactly will happen if your soul is damaged?" Seiji asked.

"It'll be extremely painful… You'll be overcome by various uncomfortable feelings, lose control of your body, see hallucinations, lose your memories, and so on."

"Oh…" That definitely sounded quite awful. "If the soul is damaged too severely… will a person die?"

"Yes. But 'Visualization' won't cause such damage to your soul, as it's the most basic as well as safest cultivation technique, which is why it's also the most commonly used."

'That's the same as what Shika-chan told me,' Seiji thought to himself.

Mai fixed her gaze on the boy. "Although it's the safest and most basic method, you still can't ignore its dangers, especially for total beginners that haven't been trained in cultivation."

'You're a total beginner, right? Are you certain you'll be okay?' her eyes seemed to say.

"I've already resolved myself." Seiji smiled in response. "I'll be fine… probably."

Mai looked at him searchingly before sighing.

"It's probably impossible to have you give up now."

"Of course. I must learn how to cultivate."

"In order to become a Yin Yang Master?"

"Yes."

There was a brief silence between them.

"Just having high Spiritual Power alone won't help you to become a Yin Yang Master," Mai stated calmly.

"Senpai, please teach me."

"The most basic conditions for becoming a Yin Yang Master are for Spiritual Power and Mana to reach a certain level. But to truly become a Yin Yang Master, you must materialize a Yin Yang Seal."

Seiji blinked in surprise. "Yin Yang… Seal?"

"Do you know what the most important ability of Yin Yang Masters is?" Mai inquired.

"It's… summoning and controlling Spirit-branded Retainers, right?" Seiji answered after some consideration.

"That's right, but more specifically, it's to control demons and spirits, or any creatures with magical powers, so that they can be used to aid the Yin Yang Master." Mai nodded at his answer. "And summoning, suppressing, controlling, assisting… the center of everything involving magical creatures is the 'Yin Yang Seal.'

"'Yin Yang Seals' are the main difference between Yin Yang Masters and other ability users. It could be said that it's the specialty of the job class. And each Yin Yang Seal is unique; each Master possesses a different type. It's both the source of their abilities to control magical creatures and a way for others to distinguish between each different Master's magic."

Seiji rubbed his chin. "So it's similar to personal business seals?"

"As an analogy, that would be accurate," Mai concurred.

"Alright then, how do I go about obtaining this Seal?"

"Materializing it by yourself is supposed to be quite difficult. You need to have talent and be willing to work hard," Mai stated calmly. "I don't know much more than that about it; you'll have to ask Milady about the details."

Seiji smiled at her politely. "I'll ask her then… thank you for letting me know so much already."

Another period of silence fell between them.

"Actually, I had another question… right from the start when I entered this room, what… what's with this area?" Seiji pointed around him and at the sky.

"This is a VR simulation. The entire room, including the walls, floor, and ceiling, are actually gigantic monitors that are capable of displaying high-quality images. This setting is used as the background to help relax the mind."

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

He had been under the impression that it was the work of magical spells! But in the end it was just high-tech science!? This didn't seem to match the style!

He looked towards the watercolor painting once more after finishing his stream of mental comments.

"Who's the person in the painting?"

"I don't know; he's just a Yin Yang Master." Mai blinked at this. "If you must insist, he might be… it could be that he's your ancestor, the legendarily strong one."

"Oh…" Seiji nodded reflexively. Suddenly, he noticed that something seemed to be off.

"Wait a moment! Could it be… do people not know what Seimei Kamijou looks like?"

"Hmm? You didn't know about that fact?" Mai asked in return. "Nobody actually knows the true appearance of that famous person."

Seiji was stunned upon hearing this.

"Wait a moment! So, Senpai, you mean to say… the physical appearance of the strongest Yin Yang Master in history, Seimei Kamijou, hasn't been passed down the ages? Does even the Haruta family not know what he looked like?"

"Indeed, not a single person knows what he truly looked like," Mai told him in a serious tone. "Most people, including the ordinary citizens that have heard of his legends, imagine him as one of the most handsome men to have ever existed, but all this is a mere fantasy.

"There's not a single credible report of his physical appearance left in any record, and there are many contradictions in the writings about his physical appearance, so there's no way whatsoever to ascertain the truth.

"That's why there are also legends stating that Seimei Kamijou had already surpassed human form, and could take any appearance that he wished. Some even believed that perhaps Seimei Kamijou was actually a woman… or that he was born a girl at birth and then turned into a man… and so on."

Seiji was absolutely speechless.

The greatest Yin Yang Master in history, acknowledged by everyone… Nobody actually knew what he looked like!?

And not even his gender was certain… What the hell!!

Seiji had a mental coughing fit and forced himself to calm down.

Upon thinking it over more deeply, it wasn't that difficult to accept. After all, he lived so long ago that it wasn't really strange that people today didn't know what he looked like, regardless of how famous he was.

The ancient times in this world couldn't compare to modern society. People back then didn't have cameras and cell phones.

Seiji could accept this after he considered it, but he still felt something about the whole situation was strange.

'Perhaps it's just a mistake of my intuition. I should stop thinking about it.'

"May I… begin now?" he asked Mai.

"Please go ahead as you wish."

"Is there a chair?"

Mai walked over to a certain location and stepped on it three times, causing a luxurious sofa to rise out from within the floor.

A motion-sensing detector plus an automatic lift? How high-class.

"Thank you." Seiji relaxed on the sofa while staring at the drawing.

Mai watched him from the side.

"Senpai…"

'I'll feel rather awkward if you watch me in the process,' Seiji said with his eyes.

"I need to take care of you and wake you up if something goes wrong."

"Oh… Okay then," Seiji relented.

Seiji decided to ignore her presence as he stared at the painting in front of him once more and opened his system.

He selected [Spiritual Abilities, chose [Spiritual Power Increase, before he finally clicked on [Visualization]!

He instantly felt everything around him becoming distant, and even Mai's figure became hazy.

The watercolor painting seemed to magnify endlessly as the pictures on it appeared to draw closer to him. They became even more vivid, realistic, and living… until the drawing finally crashed into him.

Seiji entered the painting.

Chapter 152: Seiji Kamijou

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

A soft voice sounded from beside him.

"Seiji-sama… Seiji-sama… Please wake up… It's time…"

Seiji slowly opened his eyes.

He saw Shika Kagura standing before him smiling gently and alluringly.

'Hmm? Wait a moment.'

Shika-chan's hair wasn't supposed to be blue colored!

And her smile seemed somewhat strange.

"Shika-chan…"

"Yes, I'm your Snow Girl, Shika-chan! I'm the retainer that loves Master the most, the retainer that wishes to make love to Master the most!"

The blue-haired beauty's smile seemed to grow even sultrier. The light in her eyes showed the full depth of her love towards him.

Seiji was rendered speechless at this situation.

Yep, he was 100% certain that something was wrong here, since Shika-chan would never say something like this! Nor would she have such an expression!!

He was too stunned by how many things he could possibly comment on here.

"Hey, Snow Girl, don't get too close to Master! What if you cause our Master to catch a cold!?"

"I won't! My heart is filled with love for Seiji-sama! Ahh, it's burning up!"

"If it really was burning up, you would have melted long ago!!"

A hand appeared in his field of vision and yanked away the blue-haired girl that was clinging on to him.

"Eek! Let go of me, stinky Zombie!"

"Who's stinky!? I shower every day! Stop calling me stinky!!"

She was a beauty with twin dark red ponytails and a blueish-purple-colored face. Her expression was currently seething with rage.

'It's Mika… No, it's someone that looks almost exactly like Mika!' he realized after observing her closely.

She was wearing a dark golden robe, and her skin was blueish-purple hue. She had a yellow talisman stuck to the right side of her face, and she seemed a little short.

Apart from that, her facial features were exactly identical to Mika Uehara's.

But she definitely wasn't Mika Uehara.

Who was she?

Who was this blue-haired girl?

Where was this?

Seiji's head felt heavy when he tried to think about these questions.

"Ah… Master! What's the matter!?"

"Seiji-sama!?"

A number of panicked and anxious voices filled with concern sounded out around him.

"Nothing… I just… still feel a little woozy from waking up," Seiji said, rubbing his temples.

"Master, your complexion doesn't seem too good. Is it because this idiot Snow Girl accidentally froze you?"

"I can control my powers properly! Don't treat me like a little child that can't control herself, hmph!"

"Master, should I call Firefly Grass over?"

"I'm already here… Honestly, stop arguing in front of Master; it's unseemly."

Another girl appeared.

She had light green long hair and was wearing a green-colored wide-sleeved outfit, which revealed her beautiful long legs. She wore white socks with green grass sandals. This was a beautiful girl that looked exactly like Chiaki Wakaba.

"Let me through, let me through! I'll come help out Master."

After making her way past the girl with twin ponytails and the blue-haired girl, the green-haired girl placed both her hands on Seiji's shoulders.

"May the plant spirits cleanse our Master…" she said in a gentle voice.

A cool sensation flowed into his body from his shoulders. The energy enveloped his entire body, dissipating his fatigue and cleansing his heart.

Then Seiji finally remembered.

He was the Yin Yang Master, Seiji Kamijou.

The three girls before him were all his Spirit-branded Retainers.

Snow Girl, Zombie, and Firefly Grass spirit… he gave them the names of Shika-chan, Mika, and Chiaki.

He smiled gently at Chiaki. "Thank you, Chiaki, I feel much better now."

"This is my job, Master." Firefly Grass Chiaki smiled at him. "No matter when or where, healing Master and our companions is what I live for."

"I know, but I still want to thank you." Seiji reached out and patted her head. "You've always been working hard. Thank you for your efforts."

Chiaki's face flushed slightly red.

"Ahh, Seiji-sama, I want to be treated like that too~"

Snow Girl Shika-chan opened her hands and attempted to hug him, but she was forcefully dragged away by Zombie Mika.

"Stop clinging on to Master, you idiot Snow Girl!"

"Let go of me, stinky Zombie!"

"I'm not stinky!"

Seiji sighed.

'These two are always fighting,' he thought, mentally shaking his head.

"Master, have you woken up?"

A beautiful girl with black hair and a red robe… no wait, a beautiful boy appeared at the door and bowed towards him while greeting him politely.

This was a Zashiki-warashi spirit. Seiji had given him the name of Hoshi.

"I'm awake… has everyone gathered?"

"All our companions have gathered together and are awaiting our Master's arrival."

"Alright then, I'll come out right away."

Seiji walked over to the clothes rack and slipped into the traditional Japanese hunting robes hanging there.

Zashiki-warashi Hoshi retrieved Seiji's hat for him, and Seiji placed it on his head.

After he finished putting on his clothes, Seiji walked out of his bedroom with Zashiki-warashi Hoshi following behind him.

"Stop messing around and follow Master!"

"Okay…"

"Alright~"

Behind him, Seiji heard Firefly Grass Chiaki lecturing the other two spirits, and Zombie Mika and Snow Girl Shika-chan's replies.

Seiji walked through his home's hallway and out to the garden, only to see that many Spirit-branded Retainers were waiting for him there.

Mountain Kid Zankita Juumonji and Starving Ghoul Kazufuru Ooike.

Floorboard Spirit Tetsuo Sasaki and Ancient Fire Lantern Koji Hoshihara.

Crow Tengu Michirou Juumonji and Blue Priest Hisashi Juumonji.

Shadow Girl Haruka Shimizu, Fireball Spirit Shiina Shiho, and Long-haired Ghoul Anya Saigenji.

Demon Fox Rion Amami and Demon Fox Kotomi Amami.

Mermaid Shell Kaho Miyamoto and Rain Girl Saki Yoshizawa.

Maiden of the Bridge Rika Amami and Wisteria Spirit Nozomi Uehara.

Smoke Demon Mai Houjou and White Wolf Hitaka Shuho.

Flower Demon Rana Kirin and Blue Lantern Ghost Natsuya Yoruhana.

…

Seiji exchanged glances and nodded at all his trusted subordinates. To him, they were more than mere servants; they were his valued companions.

Blue Lantern Ghost Natsuya bowed to greet him. "Greetings to Master."

With her leading the crowd, all the other Spirit-branded Retainers also began greeting Seiji.

"It's been so long, Master. It's wonderful that you remain healthy."

"Kamijou-sama, I await your orders."

"Seiji-sama, this one really missed you~~"

"Please give us your orders. No matter what they are, we'll accomplish them."

"Master, I… I'll work hard this time as well!"

"Master, I heard that we're going to fight against an incredibly powerful demon today? Haha, I can hardly wait!"

Various emotions such as concern, respect, and passion could be heard from his retainers' greetings.

Seiji smiled gently upon hearing them all.

"Everyone," he began, the sound of his voice prompting the crowd to fall into silence, "I'm delighted to see that you're all doing well. I meet frequently with some of you, yet there are also others that I haven't seen in a long time.

"If it were possible, I would throw a party for everyone, so we can gossip idly and enjoy ourselves. But we don't have the time for that right now.

"You've probably all heard the news already: there is an incredibly powerful evil demon currently rampaging east of here—and I suspect the demon is not alone. At a rough guess, more than a 100 people have already fallen victim to it.

"I've searched for every piece of information I can, but I've been unable to ascertain this demon's true identity.

"However, we cannot remain idle for any longer; even as I speak, it draws closer to the city. If we do not make haste and defeat it, many more will fall prey to this evil monstrosity.

"Out of an abundance of caution, I summoned every single one of you here today in order to fight against this unknown demon or demons. We will crush whatever lies before us with our combined strength."

Seiji swept his gaze across his retainers.

"All of you are mighty heroes.

"Many humans and spirits owe their lives to you.

"As long as we remain united, I believe no feat, task, or threat is an impossibility!"

Every retainer smiled upon being praised by their master. Some laughed heartily, and others smiled faintly. Yet more covered their mouths in embarrassment, while the rest let out light, somewhat shy chuckles.

"This time, we shall emerge victorious once more! But… what is of utmost importance is that…" Seiji paused, and his imposing manner rose to a crescendo. "Everyone! Not a single one of you is allowed to die!! This is the most important order!!! Do you hear me!?"

"We hear you—" every retainer cried in unison.

Saving people was important, victory was important, but the most important thing to Seiji was his companions' lives.

As long as all his companions were still alive, even if they temporarily suffered a defeat, they could always come back for revenge at a later time!

On the other hand, even if they achieved victory at the price of a companion's death, that still equaled defeat.

That was what Seiji Kamijou believed.

Up until now, he had never lost a single retainer before, nor had he ever been defeated in battle.

He was convinced that this time would be the same.

"Everyone, move out!"

Chapter 153: Dream

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji Haruta had been Visualizing for an entire night.

This caught Mai Houjou completely off guard.

She never anticipated that her junior could Visualize to such an extent!

Not even counting the fact that this was apparently his first time, doing it for so long was already an incredible accomplishment.

As far as Mai knew, her master… Natsuya's longest ever record for Visualizing was only slightly over two hours. Natsuya was already considered outstanding among the young generation of Yin Yang Masters.

But this boy from the Haruta family had already Visualized for an entire night, or more accurately, nine hours!

And he still hadn't finished.

Mai felt shocked to her core at this.

She knew quite clearly just how difficult Visualizing was, and it had stringent talent requirements.

She herself was unable to do it.

At a very young age, she was appraised to have no talent for Spiritual Power. Although her Mana level was quite high, her Spiritual Power was almost non-existent, which meant that she would be unable to progress as a Yin Yang Master.

The younger Mai was quite despondent over this unresolvable problem, but later she managed to accept her lot and stop worrying about it.

She worked extremely hard to improve her Mana. Although she couldn't compare with an actual Spirit-branded Retainer or legitimate ability users with high reserves of Spiritual Power, she was able to achieve the limits of her potential and surpass an ordinary person's level.

As for Haruta-san… she inspected him from the very start with her Mana ability and saw that he had both low Spiritual Power and low Mana.

If one were to judge him by his innate spiritual talent, he could only be deemed as completely useless. It was easy to understand why he had been discarded by the Haruta family.

Mai felt a sense of sympathy towards him.

Although her spiritual abilities weren't completely useless, she wasn't much better than Seiji. It was merely the difference between low quality and terrible quality. Only someone like her master Natsuya was chosen by the gods.

Her sympathy turned into a favorable impression of him after learning more about his personality and way of life.

Supposedly, Seiji Haruta had become a completely depraved useless scumbag in the past but changed himself after experiencing something unknown.

At the very least, the person that Mai saw was an outgoing, gentle, and sunny tall and handsome boy.

She was moved by his sincere care for Shika Kagura and how far he went to help her.

Mai liked this type of boy and wanted to do something for him.

That was why she told him so much and even agreed to lend him the Spirit Image.

She didn't think that he would be able to do anything with it, due to knowing how low his stats were, but she couldn't help but have a feeling of expectation after seeing his self-confidence.

And as a result, she witnessed… a miracle!

An entire night of Visualization.

Mai inspected him several times with her Mana ability and discovered that his Spiritual Power was definitely increasing at a rapid pace!

Although he was still at a low level, if he was able to maintain this rate…

Just imagining it caused Mai's heart to start pounding rapidly.

It was as if she had picked up a treasure!

Just walking normally down the street and suddenly discovering a piece of gold on the ground… No! It was more like discovering a huge, shiny diamond!

Mai had trouble grasping the full extent of Seiji's transformation, but it was an indisputable fact… and after she finally managed to accept it, she felt delighted!

'Calm. I need to calm down.'

First she needed to report this to her master.

And then she would recommend that her master should… form a closer relationship with Seiji Haruta by setting up a formal alliance with him.

Her master would be able to help him increase his power more efficiently. When he became truly strong in the future and returned to his family, he would repay Natsuya's favors.

Yep, this was a perfect win-win situation!

Mai was quite clear that her master was direly in need of allies, as well as true friends that would help and protect her in dangerous situations.

Mai definitely wouldn't let such a high-quality treasure like Seiji Haruta slip out of her hands!

Wait a moment… the two of them were the same age, and Haruta-san's looks and personalities were both excellent, so after they both became adults, they could definitely become a couple!

Mai felt like she had been enlightened.

Many boys were in love with her master, but in Mai's opinion, most of them were idiots. Haruta-san's physical appearance alone would defeat half his challengers, and his personality would defeat half of those that remained.

After he grew more powerful, he could defeat half of the one-fourth that remained, and if he returned to his family, he could defeat yet another half of the one-eighth that remained with the power of his family. Those that could truly compete with him amounted to almost nothing.

So there wasn't a problem with him, but what about Natsuya?

Her master's appearance and personality were both excellent, and as for her family… perhaps it wasn't as powerful as the Harutas, but it was still quite strong, so it wasn't a problem at all.

Alright, both of them matched up perfectly, almost too perfectly, as even their names went well together!

Seiji and Natsuya—even the sounds of their names flowed smoothly in Mai's mind!!

And the final and most important part were both parties' feelings.

Er… this was rather…

Mai felt that there was finally a problem when it came to this step.

She understood her master perfectly. Haruta-san definitely had a chance with Natsuya, and the best evidence was the fact that Natsuya invited him to temporarily reside at her residence. However, her master was a bit prideful and awkward, which would obstruct her from developing any romantic relationships.

Haruta-san had a problem as well, although he himself still hadn't noticed it… but that was exactly why it was all the scarier: he was too skilled at attracting girls!

Perhaps it was because he was an otaku that he didn't fall in love easily with girls in real life. At least that was what Mai inferred.

Handsome plus naturally skilled at attracting girls… He was basically a walking ladies' man!

Mai's face reddened as she thought back to how even she almost accidentally fell for him.

At any rate, there were problems here! For both of them!!

The maid kept wracking her brains. The more she thought about it, the more difficult she believed it would be.

At this moment, there was a sound from the sofa.

"Mmm…" It was a low groan.

The handsome boy stirred. A few seconds later, he sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes.

Haruta-san had finally returned to his senses!

Mai hurriedly checked the time.

It was 6:29 A.M. His Visualization took a total of nine hours and nineteen minutes!

This was undoubtedly an unprecedented feat.

On the sofa.

Seiji slowly opened his eyes after rubbing them.

Everything he saw was as he remembered it before entering the Visualization trance.

His head still felt a little dizzy.

He had just experienced such a strange dream… if it counted as a dream, that was.

His mouth arced slightly upwards as he recalled what he had just 'experienced.'

In the dream, he was a Yin Yang Master. All his acquaintances and friends became his retainers, and all of them formed a raid party together to defeat a boss monster… What the hell!!?

Even though it was quite interesting, thinking back on it caused Seiji to become rather embarrassed.

Well, he had never expected that the Visualization would last until he defeated the boss, so how long did this dream take?

In that dream, he struggled bitterly together with his retainers against a demon and fought for a long while. When he finally achieved a difficult victory, every single retainer as well as himself was injured.

After that, his last memory was falling asleep on the horse-drawn carriage that was taking him home. When he fell asleep there, he woke up again here in the real world.

Seiji kept rubbing his temples as he thought more about what just happened.

When he was in that place… during that dream, he seemed to recall bits and pieces of reality, but he also forgot many things. It was almost like… he had fully transformed into a denizen of that world.

That type of feeling was completely unfathomable.

'Was it… truly just a dream?'

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 154: Heart

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'It must have been a dream…'

"Junior, how are you feeling right now?"

Smoke Demon… whoops, Mai Houjou was in front of him.

"I had a really long and strange dream, and I still feel like I'm in a daze," Seiji replied.

"That wasn't a dream; you entered the Spirit Realm while Visualizing, which is the best state you can possibly achieve during Visualization," Mai explained.

"'Spirit Realm?'"

"It means that you Visualized wholeheartedly enough to enter an entirely different mental realm."

"Then, what I experienced there… Is everything in the Spirit Realm the product of a dream?"

"Yes, that's one way of putting it. What each person sees in their individual Spirit Realm is unique. Some will witness old memories, and others will experience a modern-day situation. However, a fantastical or chaotic sequence of events is more common, much like a real dream."

It was similar to a dream, yet it wasn't a dream.

Seiji recalled the time when his awareness entered Shika's soul. That was also similar to a dream, yet it wasn't a dream.

Seji assumed anything related to Mana and the soul probably functioned this way.

"If I'm in the Spirit Realm and meet with misfortune there—say, for example, I die—what would happen?"

"You'll end up harmed in some way, but it's difficult to predict the severity of your injuries. If you're lucky, you'll only be left with the memory of a frightening experience when you wake up. In a less fortunate scenario, your soul would sustain damage. This is one of the risks associated with Visualization."

Mai looked at Seiji. "Judging by how calm you seem, you must have woken up naturally. Are you feeling fine?"

"I'm fine… but I almost met with some trouble." Seiji recalled the difficult battle he faced in his Spirit Realm.

"Was it dangerous?"

"A little."

"Although it's risky to encounter a dangerous situation in your own Spirit Realm, your Spiritual Power will improve at a faster rate as a result. There are upsides and downsides," Mai explained before blinking. "At any rate, it's good that you're okay."

"Yeah… Senpai, how long did I Visualize for?" he finally asked.

Mai looked at him searchingly. "You've been Visualizing for an entire night," she stated calmly. "It's already 6:30 A.M. now."

Seiji paused in surprise.

"That long!?"

He searched his memory and attempted to calculate approximately how long he had spent in his Spirit Realm. After a while, he came to the conclusion that Mai's figure actually seemed reasonable.

It was almost as if he had lived a second life.

Or should it be said that it was similar to an overly realistic VR game?

Hey, if he thought about it like that, Visualization actually seemed rather fun!?

The Spirit Realm… it seemed much cooler than VR games that still relied on headgear and controllers!

It was rather embarrassing that all his friends and acquaintances were his retainers, but at least nobody knew about it. As long as he was having fun, everything…

Suddenly, Seiji froze as he came to a sudden realization.

He had accidentally trodden upon a subject which he'd forbidden himself from thinking.

Visualization was akin to living another life in a different reality.

But what about the current 'reality?'

In this world where he could even save and load, what evidence was there that this wasn't all a dream, or… an amazingly high-tech virtual reality game as well?

The answer was that there was none.

His current situation bore resemblance to the "brain in a jar" theory, which was a famous hypothetical situation from his previous world. The hypothesis stated: how would one know that he or she wasn't simply a "brain in a jar?"

The answer was that they couldn't… That's right, there was no method at all!

Seiji's current situation was the same; it could also be stated that any person in 'reality' faced the same dilemma as well.

Nobody could provide evidence that the world they were currently living in was the so-called 'reality.'

Absolute reality was a concept that was inherently unprovable.

In the end, whether or not one perceived their world as 'reality' relied on oneself.

Seiji recalled his experience when he first arrived in this world.

Back then, he felt as if the question was similar to walking circles around the edge of a deep pit.

Finally, he decided that regardless of the true nature of this world, he would treat everything as he wanted to. He decided not to treat this world as a fictional game.

He closed the Pandora's Box. He designated this endless dark abyss as a forbidden zone.

That was why Seiji could remain Seiji.

This Visualization accidentally led to Seiji encroaching on his own forbidden zone. Seiji, however, instantly throttled such thoughts and instead began a new train of thought.

The Spirit Realm was a place that resembled a super-realistic VR game… And damage to his real self was possible as well…

Wasn't this just like a less serious version of Sword Art Online!?

The deepest, most thought-provoking aspect of SAO was the boundary between the real world and the virtual world. When a group of people were unable to exit the VR game and could really die inside it, the game transformed into reality for those people.

Visualization was similar. Since it was like another life entirely, he would do well to treat it as another life and take it seriously.

Seiji came to a decision.

It took him a few minutes to organize his thoughts and decide on his path.

Mai had been watching him silently all this while.

"Have you been taking care of me for such a long time, Senpai? I'm sorry to have troubled you for so long… and I'm truly grateful." Seiji apologized for inconveniencing her and thanked her sincerely.

'That's your only reaction?' Mai thought to herself.

Didn't he have any special reaction to hearing that he Visualized for so long?

Then what had he been thinking about for several minutes just now? Did he truly not know how astonishing his Visualization time was!?

Mai really wanted to believe that Seiji was merely acting the part of a fool, but she didn't think that was the case.

It seemed that this guy truly didn't know the magnitude of the feat he'd just accomplished.

Even though she did expect that it was his first time, this feeling was still…

For an untalented girl to have to tell a boy who used to be a complete scum with the lowest spiritual stats that he was actually a genius… just how was she supposed to feel about it?

Who could answer her? At any rate, this particular girl, Mai Houjou, was unable to come up with an answer.

If she absolutely had to find a way to describe it, she sort of wanted to beat someone up right now, but a sense of helplessness was mixed in with her complex emotions.

Well, regardless of her complex feelings, it was her duty to tell him.

"I'll accept your gratitude. But… I also need to explain to you just how amazing your Visualization really was," Mai said in a serious tone of voice.

"Eh?" Seiji was surprised yet again.

Moments later.

"Oh, I see." Seiji rubbed his chin. "Visualizing for so long isn't something an ordinary person… or an ordinary spirit ability can accomplish. My Spiritual Power is increasing at a far swifter rate than others… Got it."

Mai stared at him incredulously. "If you understand, then why are you so calm about it? You should know what this means, right?"

"Ha, of course."

Seiji suddenly smiled wickedly as he placed one leg's ankle on his other leg's knee and took a condescending pose. He looked like a figure who held nothing but disdain for the entire world.

"I shall soon become the supreme ruler. I will make all those who previously disregarded and harmed me pay a painful price for their sins! My family that exiled me will wallow in regret!! I shall take back everything that rightfully belongs to me!!!"

Mai was rendered speechless by Seiji's act.

"Did you hope that I would react like this?" Seiji kept up his immature pose as he looked at her mirthfully.

The maid's eyes seemed rather hollow. "Er… well… I feel like it is, but it also isn't."

"Your commenting ability is lacking, Senpai."

"What's commenting ability supposed to be!?" Mai commented forcefully.

"Exactly that." Seiji gave her a big thumbs-up and flashed a smile.

"Ha… Junior, you're…"

"I know what you want to say, Senpai: I'm just a novice beginner right now, aren't I?" Seiji shrugged. "Even if I really do become much stronger in the future, I'll still be me. Perhaps some things will change, but the important parts will remain the same." He smiled gently. "That's why Senpai only needs to treat me the same as always."

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 155: You Were Fooled by Her!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

'Just be your normal gentle self—that's all you need to do. You don't need to respect me or feel that you're below me.'

Mai could feel the heartfelt sincerity in Seiji's words and widened her eyes slightly in surprise.

This was when she finally noticed that she had been imperceptibly feeling beneath him.

She noticed that he was special and began to treat him as such.

He perceived this fact.

Rather than caring about his talent, he paid more attention to the change in her.

Honestly…

Mai felt helpless about the warm feeling that rose up in her heart.

'You… you make girls fall in love with you so easily, Junior."

A period of silence fell between the pair.

Seiji stood up and stretched. "I didn't expect that I would be resting on that sofa for so long," he said. "I'm feeling hungry. Although I'm a little embarrassed to ask, Senpai… when can I have some breakfast?"

Mai smiled gently as usual upon seeing the handsome boy scratch his face awkwardly.

"I've been taking care of a certain someone for the entire night, so I'm tired and want to rest instead of making breakfast."

"Ah…"

"But as long as that certain someone is willing to do one thing for me, I'll go cook breakfast."

"What is it?"

"Sign a marriage application form."

"…What?" Seiji was stunned.

Did he hear that correctly!?

Tee-hee.

"Just joking~" Mai said, chuckling.

When she saw how silly he looked, she felt a pleasant feeling in her heart.

"I just wanted to say that the only man who I'd possibly be willing to work an entire night for and still cook breakfast after is my husband." She turned around. "You're not my husband, so I won't cook breakfast for you—it's as simple as that."

"Oh…" Seiji answered dazedly.

"What's with that 'oh'? Shouldn't you be forcefully commenting at this situation?" Mai suddenly turned back around with a devilish grin on her face. "Your commenting skills are lacking, idiot junior!"

Seiji was rendered speechless at this.

Only after he dazedly watched her walk off and exit the room did he finally regain his senses and smile wryly.

He sighed helplessly to himself. 'That comeback was pretty good.'

He then proceeded to follow her back upstairs.

As Mai said, she wouldn't cook breakfast for Seiji.

But they still needed breakfast, so she asked Seiji to do the honors.

Seiji listened to her instructions and got to work in the kitchen… although he felt it seemed a little off.

Well, as a temporary guest, it was only natural that he should help out around here. Not to mention Mai took care of him for an entire night. He definitely should do something to pay her back.

Seiji's cooking abilities were rather average.

There was no way for him to cook at the level of Mai's professional maid skills, so he mainly just heated some leftover dishes from last night, and made a few simple breakfast dishes to go together with them.

After bringing the plates to the dining hall, he saw that Mai was already waiting for him at the table.

The two of them had switched roles perfectly.

Seiji finally recalled that there were only three people here today for breakfast: Mai, Shika-chan, and himself, otherwise there was probably no way that Mai would have allowed him as a guest to cook for everyone.

He had been swindled by her.

Seiji smiled as he imitated Mai's typical maid behavior while placing the breakfast on the table.

"Please enjoy, Houjou-sama." He backed up one step and bowed after he finished placing the breakfast dishes.

Mai also pretended to be important and merely nodded slightly towards him.

After that, she tasted the food.

"Mmm… I suppose it gets passing marks, for a single boy living by himself."

"Is that supposed to be praise?"

"Yes."

"But why do I subtly feel like it was a dig at the fact that I'm single?"

"Oh, is that so?" Mai smiled gently. "My bad, as an apology, would you like this senpai of yours to help you stop being single~"

Seiji instantly admitted defeat.

He'd just requested her to "treat him normally," didn't he? Wasn't that right? Why did he feel like Mai's attitude towards him was now changing in a strange direction!?

"I'll call Shika-chan over for breakfast as well."

He escaped using a logical excuse.

Mai rubbed her chest after she watched Seiji leave the dining hall.

Her heart was beating rather quickly.

'I went a bit… overboard.' She smiled wryly as she suppressed her fluctuating emotions.

Seiji's cell phone rang while he was on his way to Shika's room.

When he took out his cell phone, he saw that it was a number he didn't recognize.

He frowned slightly at his cell phone but chose to accept the call anyway.

"Hello, who's this?"

"Are you Seigo Harano… Seiji Haruta?" A grim and dark-sounding male voice was on the other end of the call.

Seiji stopped walking towards Shika's room. "I am. Who might you be?"

"My name is… Okubo Yoshiaki," the male voice stated.

Seiji narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Okubo Yoshiaki… He was Natsuya's duel opponent as well as Shika's most recent temporary contractor.

"Natsuya Yoruhana probably didn't tell you, but I'm…"

"I know who you are. She told me everything. You were a 'divine child' in the past, right?"

The voice on the phone remained silent for a period of time.

"So she told you… what a vulgar woman."

Okubo Yoshiaki sounded like he was trying to remain as calm as possible, but his tone sounded even grimmer and darker than before, and from this Seiji could detect Okubo's inner rage.

"Vulgar?"

"She puts down her opponent and brags about her underhanded victory. She's that type of woman; she's always been that type of woman."

"I feel that she only told me the truth."

"That wasn't the truth! You were fooled by her! Everyone was fooled by her!!" Okubo Yoshiaki's voice rose in volume as he continued, "Two years ago, I should have won that duel! She only won using underhanded techniques!"

"Underhanded techniques?" Seiji remained unflustered.

"That's right… The duel was supposed to be a one-on-one duel, but she managed to secretly borrow another's power."

"There were judges present at the duel, right?"

"Judges… Both those old guys favored her! They merely pretended not to see anything! I finally detected it afterwards and complained about it, but not only did they ignore me, they even made fun of me viciously!!"

Seiji could feel the hatred and contempt emanating from the other end of the cell phone.

Seiji decided to move his cell phone slightly farther away from his ear.

"Why? When you asked for elders to be the judges, were all the judges her elders?"

"There was one judge from each family acting as the two judges, but the Yoshiaki family elder secretly hated me because I defeated his grandson before… I only learned this afterwards."

"Oh…"

"Do you understand now? Everyone was fooled by her! Including you, Seiji Haruta!!" Okubo stated coldly. "I don't know what methods she used to convince you to join her, but I know that she's a vulgar woman who'll use any underhanded technique! The only reason she approached you was for your usefulness to her!"

"Please tell me more about this." Seiji still remained calm.

"You're someone from the Haruta family; even if you're currently exiled, you're still a part of their family… If something really happened to you, the Haruta family wouldn't ignore your plight!"

"That woman merely wanted to make use of this, so she convinced you to come to her territory as a human shield!"

"Don't be seduced by her fanciful words! Don't lose yourself in the tiny insignificant things she gives you! And, above all, don't believe that she has any feelings for you!!" Okubo's words sounded rather steely as he continued, "I know that this will be cruel to you, but this is reality! So wake up, Seiji Haruta, and don't be seduced by that vulgar woman with nothing but a beautiful outer appearance!"

"Oh… Then what do you think I should do then?" Seiji acted confused.

"Help me! Help me defeat her so that justice can win!!" Okubo said in a serious and earnest tone. "As long as I defeat her, I can regain my pride, take back the respect I deserve, and let everyone know about her true, ugly self!"

"You'll become a hero, Seiji Haruta! I'll display my gratitude and share my glory with you in front of everyone! Of course, there are tangible benefits for you as well. Whether you want money or women, I can grant you anything you desire!"

"I can even help you return to your family! As long as I prove myself and reclaim my pride and honor, my family will listen to me! When that happens, if I ask my family to help you out, the Haruta family will seriously consider accepting you back within their ranks."

"Oh, that… sounds pretty good." Seiji acted as if he was almost convinced.

"I'm truly sincere about all this, Seiji Haruta. Haruta-kun, as long as you help me, I'll help you as well. I'm different from that vulgar woman who only wants to take advantage of you. I'll reward anyone that helps me generously."

Okubo's tone of voice seemed rather self-confident as he must have believed that he had almost succeeded in convincing Seiji to switch to his side.

"What you say definitely sounds appealing." Seiji pretended to sound almost completely convinced.

But in reality, Seiji's expression hadn't changed one bit. His expression remained calm and distant, with not even an eyebrow budging.

"I think I can consider it… but before that, can I ask you a few questions?"

The voice on the phone was silent for a few seconds.

"What questions?"

Chapter 156: Questions

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Seiji started with a direct question. "How do you intend to defeat Natsuya Yoruhana?"

This time, there was a lengthy silence as Okubo fell into deep thought.

"I have a perfect plan… but I can't tell you the details," he finally responded in a grim, dark tone.

"You want me to help you but can't tell me what your plan is?"

'Is that your so-called sincerity?'

Okubo felt as if he could hear that implied question needling at him, and he was overcome by a sudden wave of anger and frustration.

'This piece of garbage thinks he's actually someone important! I was polite to him for just a little while, so he dares to question me!'

He was incredibly annoyed inside.

But he had to give Seiji a reasonable explanation.

"It's because you might leak the information. Haruta-kun… it's not that I don't trust you, but you're currently in the middle of that woman's territory, so if I tell you anything, it's highly likely for her to learn about it. It's probable that… no, she's definitely secretly placing surveillance on you!"

"Ah… that sounds logical." Okubo heard agreement in Seiji's voice. "But, in that case, how can I be of any help to you? I'm currently at Natsuya Yoruhana's residence, and I'm under her surveillance, so I can't do anything."

"That's not true! You can do many things as long as you follow my orders!" Okubo hurriedly stated. "Just follow my instructions, and you'll be able to break free from your surveillance, and do… what you're supposed to do!"

"If I follow your orders, I'll be able to threaten her… Just like Shika Kagura, right?"

Okubo paused in surprise upon hearing the name of the temporary retainer he hired.

"What do you mean by this, Haruta-kun?" Okubo asked, inwardly wondering why Seiji had brought up that useless retainer's name.

"That is the second question I wanted to ask you," Seiji's said coolly. "Shika Kagura, the temporary retainer that you hired, has the ability called the 'Reaper's Curse', which will bring misfortune and calamities down upon other people. You ordered her to enter Genhana Middle School as a student, change places with your real Snow Girl retainer to confuse Natsuya's retainer, and to have her lose and be injured on purpose.

"This was all to make use of the 'Reaper's Curse' ability, and destroy Natsuya's spell formation defending the combined Genhana Middle and High School… right?"

"…Indeed," Okubo admitted.

This was a plot he had been proud of… well, he had been.

That was because the plot which he had been so confident in failed completely!

Genhana High School's spell formation and Natsuya Yoruhana both took zero damage.

The 'Reaper's Curse' ability and even the marvelous trap that he placed on Shika Kagura were all evaded by that woman!

He didn't expect to be seen through to such an extent… His self-confidence, which had received a short-lived boost, had been cast down by yet another humiliation.

Okubo didn't wish to dwell on the subject, but he felt obliged to respond since Seiji had asked.

"So everything Natsuya Yoruhana told me was true? You're not going to deny anything at all?" Seiji asked in a surprised voice.

Okubo barely managed to restrain himself from yelling out loudly in anger.

Deny… He really wanted to deny Seiji's words, yet he couldn't. It was an indisputable fact that his useless temporary retainer had been taken captive and was locked up in the same residence that Seiji Haruta was currently residing at!

Since he knew that garbage retainer would tell them about him, denying his previous actions would only make him sound like a hypocritical liar.

That was why he could only admit it.

"No, I don't deny it. It was my plot, but unfortunately she saw through it… That woman is really devious, which is why I need your help…"

"Wait a moment; I still haven't finished," Seiji interrupted him mid-speech. "Since you've admitted to that plot of yours, the next question is what I want to ask you the most.

"If your plot had succeeded, Natsuya Yoruhana's spell formation would have been destroyed, and every student and teacher at Genhana Middle and High School would have had calamities befall them. Is that right?"

Okubo felt pressured by this question.

Even though the voice on the cell phone sounded calm about it, he felt pressured.

This was a critical question.

He knew that if he didn't answer it well, it was likely that all his previous effort in convincing Seiji would go to waste.

He hated this sensation of pressure, especially because it came from an exiled piece of garbage, someone he didn't even want as his teammate!

He needed to make use of this piece of garbage, which was why he tolerated his feelings of condescension and even deigned to personally invite Seiji to his cause.

But this bastard didn't show any respect for him at all! This bastard didn't know who he was talking to!

Okubo felt another urge to yell obscenities at Seiji, but he forced himself to tolerate it.

"Please answer, Yoshiaki-san."

Seiji even had the gall to hurry him up.

"…Yes," Okubo admitted reluctantly.

The 'Reaper's Curse' definitely had the power to bring calamities down upon on everyone. Even if he denied it, it would be simple to call him out for lying.

"So you've admitted it again… In order to reach your goal, you're willing to harm so many innocents… I feel that's what evil is supposed to be."

"Those people aren't innocent at all!" Okubo's voice rose in volume again as he hurriedly explained. "Those people provide Spiritual Energy for that woman's spell formation and are all a part of her spell formation, so they count as part of that evil woman's forces! Why should I care about them!?"

"They never did anything to you, and none of them know about what happened between you and Natsuya Yoruhana…"

"They're all in that woman's school, and are helping out that fucking b*tch! That itself is a sin!!" Okubo almost shouted in a steely voice.

The other side of the phone fell silent.

Okubo was somewhat worried at Seiji's silence. 'Maybe I went a bit overboard,' he thought.

But that was what he truly believed.

Why did he have to care about those people? Even if they were ignorant and innocent, that was their own fault.

Since they went to Genhana High School and provided Spiritual Energy for that evil woman, it only served them right to have calamities befall them.

Although Okubo truly believed this, he wasn't stupid enough to voice his opinion.

"Oh, I might have gone off on a bit of a tangent. Haruta-kun, I should have said that everything was Natsuya Yoruhana's fault. That woman took advantage of every teacher and student in that entire school, and they'd only come to harm because she took advantage of them, not because of me.

"The entire Genhana High School served as her spell formation, so it's only natural for me to treat all the people there as her subordinates, isn't it? I didn't do anything wrong. If those teachers and students come to any harm, if they want to complain, they should hate her, not me."

'That's right; that sounds like a good explanation.'

Okubo truly believed that his actions were just and Natsuya was evil.

The voice on the phone still remained silent.

"Haruta-kun, I know that the part you probably care about the most is that a calamity could've befallen you, since you're also a Genhana High School student. But everything is just as I said: it's all because Natsuya Yoruhana secretly took advantage of you guys. She's the vicious mastermind behind everything!"

"Not only have you been taken advantage of as a student at her school, she's even making use of your identity as a member of the Haruta family. It's time for you to wake up now. Haruta-kun, as long as you help me…"

"One last question." A calm voice interrupted Okubo's words yet again. "Shika Kagura, the temporary retainer who listened to your orders, fought for you, and was injured and captured—what do you think of her?"

On the other side of the phone, Seiji's eyes gleamed with a terrible, icy light.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 157: Refusal

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Okubo felt that this was a strange question.

Shika Kagura was the 'Reaper's Curse' and his temporarily hired retainer.

He had wanted to utilize her special ability to destroy his enemy's spell formation, but he failed and wasted his time.

Not only did he waste his time, money, and effort, he even suffered for it—he had to undergo some uncomfortable things in order to mitigate the 'Reaper's Curse' on himself.

His plot failed, and his self-confidence had turned into humiliation… As for that temporary retainer, she was worthless.

No, she was worse than worthless—she was a piece of garbage! He never wanted to see her again.

Why was Seiji Haruta asking about this worthless piece of garbage?

Okubo mulled it over.

"Haruta-kun, are you worried that you'll end up just like Shika Kagura if you listen to my orders? You don't need to worry at all. As long as you help me, we'll definitely defeat Natsuya Yoruhana, and I'll keep my promise to you."

Actually, he wouldn't.

After making use of him, Seiji would be worthless. He didn't care about Seiji at all.

But right now, it was necessary for Okubo to act sincerely.

"That wasn't what I asked," the voice on the phone replied. "I asked what you thought of her—please answer me directly."

Okubo felt confused again.

Why did Seiji care so much about that piece of trash?

Oh, right, Shika Kagura was rather beautiful; perhaps…

What an idiot.

Falling in love with the 'Reaper's Curse' was foolish to the extreme! While Okubo admitted that Shika was extremely beautiful, anyone that got close to her would have misfortune befall them, and falling in love with her was akin to suicide.

Okubo felt even more condescension towards the scum he viewed as Seiji Haruta.

For scum to fall in love with garbage… Hmph, it was truly a perfect pairing. He mentally laughed at them.

Of course, he knew that he couldn't express this out loud.

"Haruta-kun, could it be that you like Shika Kagura? She's quite beautiful, but I don't really recommend trying anything with her; you should consider your options more clearly. As for me… I only treated her as how a contractor should, and I have zero interest in her. I've never even touched her."

'I'm an intelligent person who knows how to protect himself. I'd never do anything so suicidal like touch the 'Reaper's Curse,' unlike an incredible fool like you.'

"You never worried about her or wanted to save her after she was injured and captured, is that right?" Seiji continued asking.

Okubo was now feeling impatient.

Enough with the idiotic questions!

"Why do I need to worry about her!? She was just a temporary hireling, a mercenary! It didn't matter even if she were injured, captured, or killed! I merely hired her to work for me and paid her as she requested—that's all!"

That girl was nothing more than a tool to him.

Okubo expressed his sentiments clearly.

If the scum wanted the garbage, then he was free to take it! Okubo didn't care at all.

"I understand now," Seiji said politely. "Thank you for your honesty."

"Haruta-kun, you…"

"Yoshiaki-san, I shall reply now after hearing so much from you." Seiji raised his phone and stated his next sentence as clearly as he possibly could. "About your request for me… I'm sorry, but I refuse."

Refuse… Okubo was surprised at hearing this word.

But before he had any time to think, Seiji continued speaking.

"I wanted to hear about it from you personally, but after hearing you confirm everything for me, Yoshiaki-san… no, Okubo Yoshiaki.

"You… are a complete bastard."

His calm yet forceful words felt like a hammer smashing against Okubo's chest.

"No matter how many promises a bastard like you makes, it's nothing more than hot air coming out of your ass, because people like you aren't worthy of my trust."

"A bastard like you was actually considered a 'divine child' in the past? Or maybe it's exactly because you used to be a 'divine child'. Either way, you've fallen to the bottom of the abyss, Okubo Yoshiaki."

"I'm not only talking about your personality, I'm also talking about your real-life situation… My guess is that you're currently at the state of being forced to the brink."

Brink… Okubo received a huge impact from this!

He felt as if he had been seen through.

That was because there were indeed almost no other options left to him!

Natsuya had sent him a formal duel request, which he had thought he could deal with easily. But in actuality, everything happened differently from what he expected.

It was like he had been forced to run in circles from start to finish, and no matter how he resisted, counterattacked, and struggled, Natsuya was able to counter his every move.

He discovered that not a single trump card of his turned out to be reliable! And as for her… Natsuya Yoruhana seemed to have the entire world behind her as she consecutively played trump cards that he didn't imagine her possessing!!

He was forcefully crushed and defeated at the negotiation table on how to handle the formal duel.

Why did things happen like this!?

'I thought that her family hated her due to her foolish beliefs!?' Okubo had roared in his mind. 'Why are there still so many people supporting her!!?'

Almost all his gathered information had been wrong.

His own negotiation plans that he confidently planned on using… were completely useless, just like a joke.

After the formal duel negotiation was finished, Okubo remained in a state of shock for a long while.

He was just like an elementary school student that foolishly believed he would get a high grade on his test but ended up with a big fat red zero.

When he finally managed to regain his senses, he went berserk and destroyed many inanimate objects.

But after, he finally was able to face reality. Okubo desperately attempted to conceive a plot which he could use to turn around the situation. Finally, he figured that… he could take advantage of Seiji Haruta!

As long as he promised to give this piece of trash scum that was exiled from the Haruta family some material benefits, it would be easy to get Seiji on his side.

That's what Okubo believed… that's all Okubo could believe.

That was why Okubo decided call Seiji and try his best at talking to this scum.

But the result was…

"My guess is that you were completely defeated by Natsuya at the negotiation table when you were discussing the formal conditions for the duel. You were forced to accept many conditions that were unfavorable to you, making it inconvenient for you to do many things, to the extent where you felt that you were in danger of losing the duel."

"And you absolutely can't afford to lose this duel, because your situation is already extremely precarious. In other words, you're betting everything you have remaining on this duel that you set in motion; it's your last gamble."

"Since you absolutely don't want to lose, you desperately tried to conceive a new plan of some sort, and the result was that you attempted calling me, the outsider temporarily residing at Natsuya's residence. You wanted to make use of me for another underhanded plot against her… such as the plot you attempted with the 'Reaper's Curse.'"

"If it weren't for the fact that I was necessary for your plan, you wouldn't even consider talking with exiled scum like me, right? You definitely think this way, because your haughty attitude and condescension was revealed just by your tone of voice alone. Yes, it was that obvious."

Seiji chuckled coldly on the other end of the cell phone. "Are my guesses on the mark, Okubo Yoshiaki?"

Okubo's body began to tremble.

Everything Seiji said had been accurate.

Literally everything he said over the phone… was true!

How could it be? How was this possible!? Just how did he…

"Right now you're probably thinking just how could scum like him guess my actual situation?"

It was almost as if he could read Okubo's mind. He said exactly what Okubo was thinking.

"This is actually quite easy. After I confirmed what a bastard you were, I just needed to think a little. I could infer your current situation and what your ulterior motives were in contacting me," the voice on Okubo's cell phone stated coldly. "As scum, it should only be natural for me to understand a bastard's way of thinking."

The deep sarcasm pierced Okubo's heart like a sharp knife.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 158: Spells

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

Okubo had been seen through entirely and insulted by someone he viewed as nothing more than a piece of trashy scum.

Okubo never considered… no, he'd never even imagined that such a day would come for him.

The impact he received was so enormous that his mind went completely blank. He was unable to think about anything; all he could do was shiver uncontrollably at the chill he felt.

It was as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

"Have you received so much of a shock that you can't even speak anymore?" the voice asked mockingly. "So that's your laughable limit. Okubo Yoshiaki, you know quite well that you're not even close to a match for Natsuya Yoruhana in an honest, fair match!"

"Two years ago, she didn't use any underhanded techniques and defeated you fair and square! Two years later, which is today, she's even stronger than before, so there's no way for you to defeat her directly, which is why you can only use sneaky underhanded tactics to try and catch her off guard."

"Honestly, your plot wasn't bad at all… but you still ended up failing," Seiji said calmly. "Your final chance has disappeared with your failed plot, but you haven't recognized this… Your twisted pride and arrogance have refused to allow you to admit this."

"But just because you refuse to admit it, reality won't change just for your sake. Reality will simply show you reality, no matter if you accept it or not."

"Okubo Yoshiaki… you were defeated once before by Natsuya Yoruhana. This time, you will be defeated by her again. You'll be defeated by her for eternity."

"You'll never catch up to her in terms of power for your entire life, nor will you ever understand that even when you die, it's because your so-called 'divine child' brain is basically now…"

Each and every sentence pierced into Okubo's dazed brain painfully.

It evoked relentless waves of agony, like glass shards lacerating the inside of his head.

As for whatever final adjective Seiji said, he didn't hear it clearly… he instinctively refused to hear it.

Seiji hung up on Okubo after that and put away his cell phone.

He then continued walking to Shika's room, knocked on the door, and entered after she said: "come in".

"Brother Seiji…" Shika blinked in surprise as she greeted him. "Your expression… is a little scary."

Seiji raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I just had a phone call with an annoying fellow."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry; it wasn't a big deal." Seiji walked closer and offered his arm to her. "Let's go eat breakfast together, Shika-chan."

"Okay," Shika answered happily, linking her arm with Seiji's.

The duo walked together towards the dining hall.

"Today's breakfast was personally made by me, you know."

"Eh…"

Seiji smiled. "Maybe it's not as good as Houjou-senpai's food, but it's more than edible."

Shika eyes sparkled as she looked at Seiji. "Whatever Brother Seiji cooks… will definitely be delicious," she said in a serious tone.

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "Hah… I feel embarrassed now."

"Well, at least I believe it is," Shika added with a smile.

'Objectively speaking, it's probably not that delicious.' That was left unsaid.

Fine then; at least Shika was an honest child!

He couldn't help but reach out his hand and pat her on the head.

A light smile bloomed on Shika's face.

The two of them soon reached the dining hall.

This was followed by the three of them eating breakfast together happily.

"I read Brother Seiji's story last night; I think… it's really just like Brother's style."

"Ahh… What's your overall impression? Did you enjoy it?"

"It was great… I enjoyed it so much." Shika flashed a movingly soft and gentle smile. "I believe that it's a wonderful story!"

Seiji couldn't find any words to say after seeing such a beautiful smile.

"That's no good, Kagura-san. If you praise him too much, he'll become arrogant." Mai entered the conversation with a frown. "You should be more objective."

"But… that's what I really believe."

"Hmm… Then allow me to read Haruta-san's story as well." Mai turned to the boy. "I'll give you a fair and objective assessment, for Kagura-san's part as well."

Seiji smiled. "It'll be my pleasure to receive Senpai's review."

He completely put that displeasing phone call behind him.

…

After breakfast.

Seiji returned to his room and emailed a copy of his story to Mai.

After that, he checked his system.

One night of [Visualization] had given him 5 extra points in [Spiritual Power]!

'An excellent improvement, but I doubt it will continue to rise so quickly.'

From previous experience, he knew that his stats would improve faster when they were low and slow down when they were high.

Next, he chose [Spiritual Abilities]. There, he saw a new option called [Spells]!

The prerequisite for [Spells] was to have 15 points in [Spiritual Power].

When he chose [Spells] and looked at the options, there was only one choice called [Beginner-level Body Strengthening Spell, which was grayed out and unselectable.

According to the system's explanation, the requirements for learning the basic body strengthening spell were—

[Read and fully comprehend a beginner-level body-strengthening technique manual or its equivalent—current progress 0%.]

[Accept training from someone who understands the [Beginner-level Body-Strengthening Spell] or above and completely comprehend their tutelage—current progress 0%.]

[44 points required to exchange for this ability.]

Seiji's eyebrows twitched when he read this.

This was rather different from the abilities on the other item cards. Not only did it require points, it had two additional requirements.

Why did it need both points and these conditions? Or that is to say, why did he need to learn it both in real life and through his system?

And as for the points required… why exactly was it 44 points!?

Normally prices would be set at something like 40 or 45 points, but why was it 44?

Just what are you trying to say, system!?

Seiji couldn't comprehend it.

44 points… This was an acceptable price; it was even cheaper than the abilities under the [Fighting] skill tree.

But as for these conditions… right, was it because of the other two requirements that the points required were lower?

If it weren't for the two requirements, and he only exchanged points for this ability, just how strong would the [Beginner-level Body-Strengthening Technique] be?

Seiji pondered on it.

It was incalculable until he learned just how strong the body-strengthening spell was.

As for exactly what this spell did, the only explanation the system had was [a spell that greatly increases the user's physical abilities. Beginner level.]

Just how much do you want to skimp on the word count?

Seiji began seriously considering whether or not to learn this spell after commenting on the situation…

'No, I have to learn it.'

This appeared to be the most basic spell, so it was a necessary requirement! What he needed to consider wasn't whether or not to learn it, but if he wanted to learn it right away, and how.

Even though he could learn it later, he figured that it was best to learn the basics early for a solid foundation. He was unsure how difficult the two requirements would be to achieve… If it was difficult, then it was all the more important that he began as soon as possible.

Yep, he decided to learn this spell as soon as possible! As for how to learn it… he could probably borrow a manual on this from Natsuya, and for his teacher… Shika-chan was a perfect choice!

He needed to think about how to ask Natsuya to borrow a technique manual…

'Ugh, when is she going to return?'

Seiji yawned as he kept thinking.

He decided to take a rest. Last night's [Visualization] was similar to dreaming, but it wasn't real sleep, so he was rather tired.

'Wait! Before I go to sleep, I should sign the story contract and mail it out.'

…

He slept till noon.

Seiji left his room, found Mai, and from her, he gleaned that Natsuya had returned and was in her study.

Seiji thus walked to the third floor and knocked on her door.

He entered after receiving her permission.

He saw that the president was sitting on the chair behind her desk. When he came in, she smiled and turned around to look at him.

Seiji returned her smile with one of his own as he greeted her. "Judging from how you seem… your negotiations met with great success."

"Yep, they were a lot more successful than I expected. The duel's format was as I expected, but apart from that, I received many advantageous conditions."

"Just as I thought." Seiji observed her face intently. "You'd never lose in a direct duel against that type of guy… Not only that, you'd achieve a great victory."

"I'm glad that I didn't betray your trust." Natsuya's face flushed slightly red as she averted her gaze.

A moment of silence fell between them.

"Actually, Okubo Yoshiaki gave me a phone call," Seiji said honestly. "He tried to get me to come over to his side and do something for him, but I refused."

Natsuya looked directly at him. "That sounds like just how he'd struggle… Thank you, Haruta-kun."

"No need for thanks; I told you before that I'd stick by your side."

The two of them exchanged smiles.

"I also used this opportunity to ask him some questions and confirmed that he is an absolute complete bastard." Seiji walked up to her desk. "Would you like to hear the details?"

Natsuya shook her head. "I can guess at what he said, so it's not necessary."

"Then I'll stop thinking about it, since that phone call was really unpleasant… The only part that I enjoyed was being able to guess that you were successful in your negotiation." Seiji rubbed his chin. "I won't ask about the details—all I want to know is this: how soon can I beat him up… I mean, how soon can I deal with him?"

"Soon." An indescribable light flashed through Natsuya's eyes. "This will all be over before the school festival."

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 159: Say That Earlier!

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The school festival… Seiji had almost forgotten about it.

"The school festival is next week, four days from now, right?" he asked after a pause.

"Yep… Genhana High School's festival has always been rather successful, so I hope that it'll only improve rather than decrease in quality under my student council. That's why we need to eliminate any obstacles or annoyances before it begins," Natsuya said in a serious tone.

Seiji chuckled. "Similar to a grand end-of-year cleaning?"

Natsuya nodded. "That's right."

"On what day will the duel be held?"

"Starting from tomorrow until the day before the school festival begins, he has three nights in which he can choose to launch an attack. If he can break through my spell formation's defense, it'll be his victory. If he fails, however, or if he attacks during a time that wasn't formally specified, it will count as my victory."

"Ah…" Seiji had a basic grasp of the situation. "When do you think he'll come?"

"I think he'll wait until the last day, because he requires time to prepare." Natsuya smiled faintly. "But even if he waits until the last minute, he won't be able to finish the preparations that he wants."

"You've forced him to work on a deadline."

"Apart from time, I've also managed to limit one of his main preparation methods. That mysterious medicine he's been using to gather spiritual energy has been forbidden."

"Nice." While Seiji wasn't sure about what exactly this entailed for Okubo, he was certain that it had dealt a serious blow to his morale.

The president was really reliable in getting what she wanted on the negotiation table!

"This will give me a great advantage, but we can't relax our guard. We must be cautious until everything is over."

Natsuya wasn't overconfident simply because she gained an advantage during the negotiations. She was the type that believed everything would only be over when it was over.

Seiji approved of her cautious personality.

"Do you need my help with anything?"

"Not particularly. But…" Natsuya looked directly at Seiji. "Did you… want to join in some way?"

"Hmm?"

"I already heard from Houjou-san about you and Shika… your determination, your actions, and… your transformation."

Natsuya narrowed her eyes slightly. Suddenly both her eye pupils turned blood-red and diamond-shaped!

What the hell—was this Sharingan!?

Seiji was completely stunned.

"Right now I'm currently confirming your status," Natsuya explained as she stared at him with her Sharingan-like eyes.

Seiji blinked in discomfort. "Er… what exactly are you checking?"

"I'm checking your Spiritual Power level and your Mana energy waves," Natsuya answered calmly. "It's… quite astonishing, Haruta-kun. Before, your Spiritual Power and Mana were both incredibly low, but after a single day…" She sighed as her eye pupils morphed back into their normal shape. "In such a short time, your Spiritual Power and Mana have increased greatly. Even though it's still at a very low level, the amount you've improved by—or I should say the pace of your improvement—is rather shocking."

A brief period of silence fell between the duo.

"If you improve by this much every day, it'll only take you a few days to reach the level of someone qualified to become a Spirit-branded Retainer," Natsuya informed him in a serious tone.

"A Spirit-branded Retainer's level…" Seiji rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's the most basic level, right?"

"It's indeed the lowest level, but even so, you need a certain amount of Spiritual Power and Mana to become a retainer." Natsuya sighed before continuing, "Haruta-kun, your transformation is incredibly astonishing… You don't know about the realm of Yin Yang Masters, but I still need to let you know just how shocking your increase in Spiritual Power really is.

"To the best of my knowledge, amongst modern-day Yin Yang Masters… no, even amongst all modern-day Spiritual Ability users, your feat is unprecedented! To be able to improve such low Spiritual Power and Mana levels by a vast amount in a single night through only Visualization—there's never been an instance like yours!

"This type of feat is recorded only in ancient texts and legends! Another way to put it is this: if people found out about your situation, you'd become a modern-day living legend!"

Seiji scratched his face awkwardly. "A legend… I can't really feel it right now, but I'll keep it in mind."

"That's good then." Natsuya nodded in affirmation. "Honestly speaking, when I heard Houjou-san tell me about your situation, I almost thought that I misheard… But no matter how unbelievable the situation, she would never lie to me, so I accepted it. And just now, I personally confirmed it."

The president revealed a complex expression as she considered the situation. "Houjou-san told me that you wanted to become a Yin Yang Master, so I thought that perhaps you'd like to participate even further. If you witness the duel, you can understand more… about my world."

Seiji remained silent for a few moments.

"If I want to witness the duel, I'm going to have to increase my Spiritual Power level to at least that of a retainer's, right?"

"That's not necessary." Natsuya shook her head. "However, if you do reach that level, I can form a contract with you as my temporary Spirit-branded Retainer, so that you can witness the battle at the closest distance possible. But if you don't want to personally take part in the battle or if you can't achieve that level, you can simply watch as a spectator."

"Oh…"

"I have a large advantage in this duel, so it should be fairly safe, but there's still a risk… What would you like to do?"

Seiji pondered on her words. "If I become your temporary retainer and enter the battle itself, will it inconvenience you in any way?"

"That will depend on your performance. I believe that you won't… you could even be a great help."

"How so?"

"I feel that he's highly likely to use soul layer magic attacks against me, and you seem to be quite talented in this area. You could definitely become an unexpected factor in this duel," Natsuya said seriously.

Seiji's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Does that mean… there's a possibility for the battle to be similar to the one where I dispelled the amnesia spell on Shika?"

"Yes, there's a possibility that there will be a battle in our soul layers, just like the battle you went through in Shika's soul," Natsuya confirmed.

'You should've said that earlier, Milady!'

Seiji couldn't help but feel excited when he heard this. Battles that relied on the power of imagination were fun to him!

A 2-D battle… There were so many ways he could win! If it was a battle in the soul layer, he could use any method he could possibly imagine to beat that bastard viciously!

This was so much better than beating him up in real life!

Just imagining the possibilities caused Seiji to swell with excitement, and that was taking into account it was only a possibility.

But it was worth it for him to believe in this outcome! Such an exciting all-out battle where he could let loose his inner bloodthirsty berserker!!

"I'd like to participate in the battle!" His mouth arced upwards, and his eyes began sparkling.

"I'll do my best to cultivate myself in the next few days in order to reach the level of a Spirit-branded Retainer! Please take good care of me and help me to learn as much knowledge as possible, President Yoruhana!"

"Oh… okay." Natsuya was slightly stunned and could only reply dazedly at Seiji's sudden explosion of passion.

"It's best to start as soon as possible, so I'll begin immediately! I'll have to find Houjou-senpai if I want to borrow your Spirit Image again, right?" Seiji flashed a brilliant smile. "Or would it be better if you personally taught me something first? For example, showing me some secret technique manuals, or teaching me how to use spells?"

"Er… just go ahead and do some Visualization first," Natsuya replied.

"Got it! I shall take my leave then," Seiji answered spiritedly before turning around and leaving.

Natsuya tilted her head in confusion as she watched his figure disappear dazedly.

"What's with him?" she murmured.

Report chapter Comments

Chapter 160: Curled-Up Cat

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24

The high-spirited Seiji sought out Mai and asked to borrow the 'Spirit Image' once more.

But he was rejected.

"It's almost lunchtime, so whatever you want to do should wait until after lunch, unless you want to skip it," Mai informed him calmly.

He hit a red traffic light, so he could only put on the brakes.

"You're about to cook lunch? Would you like my assistance?" Seiji volunteered of his own volition.

"There's no need for that, but thanks for the offer."

The professional maid seemed to be exuding an aura which said: 'For Milady's lunch, people lacking experience will only get in my way.'

"Oh…"

'Ok then, I knew that it would turn out like this.'

Seiji turned around and was about to leave, but Mai stopped him.

"Your story's not bad at all. I give it 7.5 points out of 10." Mai smiled. "Tell me when it gets published—I'll go buy the magazine it's in."

"Thanks for purchasing it!" 7.5 seemed like an awkward number to Seiji, but, to him, any rating above 7 out of 10 was acceptable.

Mai's inner feelings were in turmoil as she watched an obviously joyous Seiji leave.

Her true evaluation of Seiji's story had been 9 points!

But if she told him the truth, she was afraid that he would become haughty. It… it definitely wasn't because she was embarrassed at the fact that she was enchanted with his writing skills!

Okay, the maid was being a tsundere now.

Seiji went to the main hall and was about to pour some tea for himself when he saw a cute creature.

It was Rana Kirin.

The cat-eared loli… whoops, the petite middle-school girl was taking a nap on the sofa with her eyes closed. Her expression was soft and peaceful, and the two large cat ears on her head were trembling slightly.

'So cute!' Seiji couldn't help but stare at her.

Then she shook herself and curled up into a near-perfect circle.

This was… the legendary cat-curled-up-into-a-ball scenario!

Seiji was deeply moved by this scene. Without a trace of hesitation, he took out his cell phone and captured a picture of the precious scene.

Click click…* The sound of the camera shutter echoed through the room.

Rana's ears quivered upon hearing this sound, and she slowly opened her eyes, searching for the source of the disturbance.

"Er…" Seiji froze solid as their eyes met. "Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry!"

He immediately put away his cell phone.

Rana blinked her beautiful heterochromia eyes and began pouting slightly.

It seemed that she was a little angry.

"I'm sorry—you were too cute, so I couldn't help myself…" Seiji scratched his face awkwardly.

Rana's mouth seemed to relax slightly, but she was still glaring at him.

She then reached out with one of her paws—er, hands—and slapped the sofa beside her.

Seiji was mystified at her action.

While he was confused, he finally realized what she meant when she patted the sofa beside her two more times.

"You want me to sit there?"

Rana's tiny lips curled.

It seemed that he was correct. Seiji walked over and sat down on the indicated spot.

Rana relaxed her body and placed her head on Seiji's thigh. Next, she grabbed one of his hands and placed it on her own head.

Did she want him to pat her on the head?

A helpless Seiji began patting Rana's head.

Pat~ Pat pat~~

"Meow…" Rana purred in pure comfort.

So cute!

Seiji took a huge blow from the high-tech cannon of cuteness.

If he had been a cat-ear lover, perhaps he would have fainted on the spot!

Speaking of cat ears… could he… touch her cat ears?

Once he had this thought, it became difficult to suppress the urge.

The curiosity within Seiji had been fully unleashed.

'It would be fine to touch them for only a moment, right?'

Hey everyone, these are authentic cat ears!

These cat ears aren't mere accessories, nor are they virtual reality holograms!

They're real, moving, warm cat ears that come from Rana merging with a cat spirit!!

As a gentleman, how could Seiji possibly let this chance slip past?

'Okay, I'll do it!'

All he had to do was feel them gently…

Seiji slowly moved his hands, and just as he was about to touch…

"Haruta-kun."

'Ahhh!!'

Seiji almost reflexively shouted out loud like a frog that had been stepped on as his hands froze in midair.

"I… I didn't do anything! I haven't done anything yet!" he stammered defensively.

"Do… what?"

The person who appeared in his vision was a red-haired beauty with a sports drink bottle in her hand. She was wearing a midriff-baring shirt and black-colored hotpants.

Hitaka Shuho… what was with her outfit!?

Seiji was absolutely shocked.

Her current appearance almost completely went against every impression he had of her.

From what Seiji thought of her, Hitaka was a serious, cold, strict girl, who only thought about matters related to her master Natsuya Yoruhana; she was a loyal dog… er, warrior-type retainer.

She didn't seem like the type to care about her own affairs or personal appearance, and the clothes she wore should have been rather normal, or even traditional.

However, this hot girl before him… what was this about? With her personality, why was she dressed like this!?

It wasn't that it looked bad on her, but rather it felt strange because it looked really great on her!!

The red-haired beauty tilted her head upwards and took a huge gulp of her sports drink while Seiji remained shocked.

This pose… this appearance seemed right out of a sports drink advertisement!

Seiji was completely frozen solid.

Hitaka looked at him in confusion.

"Haruta-kun, did you say something just now?"

"Er…" Seiji returned to his senses. "Did I… say something?"

Hitaka was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

"I forgot… perhaps I was just muttering to myself." Seiji averted his gaze and did his best to fool her.

"Talking to yourself unknowingly… I do that from time to time as well." Hitaka nodded understandingly; she seemed to have accepted Seiji's blatant lie.

She actually accepted it!?

Seiji looked at her again and saw that she was taking another huge gulp of the sports drink, her head tilted upwards.

She exposed her dainty white neck while drinking, and the view of her throat gulping as well as her shirt that showed off her smooth stomach and belly button…

For the red-haired beauty clad in revealing, figure-hugging clothes to do such an action, it was… a truly admirable scene.

Seiji almost impulsively took out his cell phone again.

"Is she asleep?"

"Eh?"

"Rana."

"Er… I think she isn't? She's just resting." Seiji looked down at the cat girl.

"I don't know why Rana is so intimate with you…" Hitaka flicked her gaze back to his face. "Could I trouble you to accompany her like this for a little while?"

"Of course."

'I'm already doing it anyways.' Seiji smiled in an attempt to transmit that message.

"Thank you."

Hitaka thanked him and took another sip of her sports drink. Suddenly, she seemed to think of something.

"Would you like some?" She lifted her drink and waved it at Seiji.

Seiji looked at it and nodded.

He had originally wanted some tea, but a sports drink didn't sound bad either.

Just as he thought Hitaka was about to grab another bottled drink for him, he saw her walking over and handing him the same bottle that she had just drunk from.

Seiji was rendered speechless by this.

Hitaka stared at him with an expression which said: 'What are you doing? Hurry up and drink already.'

'This doesn't seem right!!' Seiji energetically commented in his mind.

No matter how he looked at it, she should have grabbed a new sports drink bottle for him! Why the hell was she giving her the one that she already drank from!?

Although he could accept it, it still seemed really strange! Hitaka's favorability rating towards him wasn't high enough for such an action, was it!?

Dating sim system: 'Would you like to confirm and make sure, dear?'

Seiji imagined his own system talking to him.

It wasn't necessary to check! Seiji was confident that he didn't misremember; Hitaka's favorability rating towards him wasn't high at all. But why…

There was only one truth.

Hitaka Shuho… was completely ignorant regarding such matters!

Seiji detected the truth.

Her expression seemed completely calm, and she believed nothing was wrong with her intimate offer…

She appeared in front of a boy wearing such alluring clothing, but she didn't seem to be shy about it at all. Instead, she thought it was natural…

He was 99% certain.

The red-haired beautiful girl in front of him… was a complete idiot about anything related to gender matters and boys!

Report chapter Comments